


Burst and Bloom

by Exterminatorviolence



Series: Burst and Bloom [1]
Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub Undertones, Fluff, Knotting, M/M, Miscommunication, Orgasm Control, Past Abuse, Rough Sex, Sex Toys, There's No Actual Wolves, everyone's an alpha but Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-05-31 12:54:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6470698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exterminatorviolence/pseuds/Exterminatorviolence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s not that Danny hates being an omega, he just, sometimes wishes he wasn’t. It’s only because he hates how people look at him like he’s something fragile that needs to be taken care of. He’s twenty four years old and in the NFL for christ's sake, he’s not fragile. </p>
<p>He's not looking for an alpha either, but joining the Patriots, that could change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Dim Entrance

**Author's Note:**

> What have I written?  
> Alright, so, alpha/beta/omega isn't actually supernatural (at least not for this story), so there's no actual werewolf transformations, just some "inner wolf" mentionings that are more to do with the baser instinct of a person. You could look at it almost like a dom/sub AU, only omegas go into heat every four months in this because I'm TRASH and heat sex is fun to write. It doesn't follow their real season schedule, but has a bunch of good games thrown in for a little reference.
> 
> Also thanks to [amenbrola](http://www.amenbrola.tumblr.com) and [nicolelynette1](http://www.nicolelynette1.tumblr.com) for not shunning me and telling me to post this. Go give them a follow on tumblr.

It’s not that Danny hates being an omega, he just, sometimes wishes he wasn’t. Okay, so maybe he hates being an omega a little, but it’s only because he hates how people look at him like he’s something fragile that needs to be taken care of. He’s twenty four years old and in the NFL for christ's sake, he’s  _ not  _ fragile.

But, apparently, that’s something over half the reporters seemed to forget about, because he’s sitting in front of several cameras, everyone asking how it feels to be the only active omega in the NFL and on the Patriots. Never mind that he played in St. Louis for a year, the reporters seemed to forget about that too.

He answers as politely as he can, impatience and anger rising by the minute. He’s beyond relieved when the manager next to him says, “last question”.

His relief is short lived.

“What does your alpha think about the change in teams? Are they willing to move to Boston with you?”

The polite smile on his face wavers, and he resists the urge to rolls his eyes as he answers. “I don’t have an alpha, and I’m not looking for one either.”

As he suspects, cameras start flashing again, and the reporters start asking questions over each other.

“What do you mean you ‘aren’t looking for an alpha’?”  _ Exactly that. _

“Do you have a beta somewhere?”  _ No _ .

“Do you feel incomplete without an alpha or Beta to take care of you?”  _ God, no _ .

Instead of answering any of them, he just smiles and stands from the chair, exiting the small press room. He heaves a sigh of relief when he’s safely out of the room and leaning against the wall next to the door. He stiffens when he feels someone approach him, but relaxes when he sees that it’s just Tom.

“Rough interview?”

Danny groans nodding. “Yeah, you could say that,”

“Don’t worry, after your first game, I’m sure people will stop talking about your class,” Tom reassures, rustling the omega’s hair.

“God, I hope so,” He leans into Tom’s hand a little. “You in next?”

“Yep. I can give you a ride home afterwards if you want.”

Danny smiles genuinely for the first time that afternoon. “That’d be great, thanks,”

Tom gives him another smile before entering the press room to a flurry of flashes. He can hear the questions start up for the quarterback and feels slightly envious of how Tom’s questions seem to only revolve around football and not his class.

He sighs again, pushing off the wall and wanders around the building. He’s itching to get out of the suit they put him in, and he really just wants to go home and sleep.

He finds himself out on the practice field, drawing in air that, gratefully, doesn’t smell of any alphas or betas. It’s sunny out and he pulls at the black tie that feels like it’s choking him. He feels freed when it’s finally undone and hanging loosely from his neck.

“Aren’t you supposed to keep that on for the interview?”

Danny whirls around startled, coming face to face with a blonde alpha with sparkling eyes.

He hesitates before answering. “I already did my interview. Tom’s in there now.” He can’t get a read on this alpha, unsure if he should be speaking freely or not.

“Is that where that idiot went?” The alpha curses under his breath. “He told me to come by to meet the new guy - you I’m assuming.” He smiles and Danny finds himself holding back a smile of his own.

“Yep, that’s me: the new player who’s an omega and that’s all anyone seems to care about,” It comes out a bit harsher than he intended and he winces, dropping his eyes to the ground in submission.

“What? No, I’m not that kind of alpha. No one on the team is,” He takes a step closer to Danny. “My name’s Julian by the way. One of the other receivers.” He sticks his hand out, and Danny takes it, shaking it.

“Hi, sorry. I’m never too sure where alphas stand these days.” Danny apologizes, running a hand through his hair, messing it up.

“Ah, everyone asking about your class, and not about your actual experience?”

He looks at Julian, surprised. “Um...yeah,” 

“You’d think after your year with the Rams, they wouldn’t keep asking,” Julian sticks his hands in his pockets, almost as if he’s making himself less threatening.

“I...it wasn’t like this with the Rams. I’m not used to all this attention, I guess,” He shrugs. “I was never asked any questions.” 

“You didn’t get a lot of attention back in St. Louis?” Julian asks, sounding skeptical.

Danny shakes his head. “I think they wanted to, but the Rams kept me in the back when we weren’t on the field.”

The alpha takes another step towards him so they’re standing next to each other. He sits down on the grass, looking up at Danny like he expects him to sit down as well. He does, because, well, Julian’s kind of hot and he feels a sort of satisfaction when he realizes he might dirty his suit pants.

“Are they allowed to do that?” Julian asks once Danny is sitting next to him.

“It’s not like I could really do anything about it. I’m an omega playing in a league of alphas and betas.” He answers, tucking his legs up and wrapping his arms around them. “Also doesn’t help that I’m the  _ only _ omega in the league.”

“So you just had to live with it?”

“Basically. I hated it, but I’m not sure if this is any better,” He says. “Tom said that after a game, people would stop talking about it,”

“I’m sure he’s right. Tom tends to be right about most things,” Julian agrees, nodding. 

Danny scoffs. “Yeah, well, he’s an alpha, I’m not, I doubt he’ll be right about this.” Julian’s quiet for a minute, and the silence feels suffocating to Danny, so he asks, “Tom said to come down to meet me?”

The alpha nods. “Yeah, Tom likes when the receivers have chemistry with each other,” He shrugs. “I think he just wanted me to see your cute face.”

Danny feels his face flush. “I’m not...I don’t,” He stumbles out the words.

“You never had anyone call you cute before?” Julian asks, cocking his head to the side.

“Delicate? Sure. Cute? Not so much,”

Julian smirks and pokes Danny’s cheek. “Well you are. Cute, that is. I’m like, one hundred percent sure you’re not delicate if you’re playing in the NFL.”

He bats the hand away smiling. He doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t feel like he needs to puff his chest out with Julian. Almost every alpha he’s met (and there’s been a  _ lot _ ), he’s butted heads with, but not this one. It’s making him a little uneasy, wondering if Julian has some ulterior motive. He probably doesn't, but past experience has taught Danny to be cautious.

“You never know, I could break apart any day now,” He teases. He rubs a hand over his neck, baring it a little, and watches as Julian’s eyes follow the movement. It’s a subtle trick, and a little dirty, but effective.

Julian doesn’t take the bait and ask about his unmarked neck, and instead snaps his eyes back to Danny’s. “Well, if you do, I’ll be sure to pick you up.” He winks and it makes Danny want to really bare his neck.

He opens his mouth to say something - what, he doesn’t know - but a voice behind him beats him. “There you are!” It’s Tom, and he walks in front of them. “I thought the reporters like, kidnapped you or something,” 

Danny looks up at him sheepishly. “Sorry, I got a little restless in there,”

Beside him, Julian asks fondly, “What, you don’t trust me to not let that happen?”

Tom rolls his eyes. “Of course not. You probably already his on him,”

“You know I only hit on the  _ really _ cute ones,” Julian quips back, teasing, eyes slightly narrowed, defensive for a reason Danny doesn't know.

He feels the slight tension that’s building and interrupts them by standing up. “We, uh, we can go now, right?” He asks Tom.

The quarterback nods. “Since you’ve already met Jules, yeah.”

Julian’s standing as well and grabs Danny’s wrist. “I could, um, maybe show you around.” He offers.

Danny looks down at where Julian’s grabbing him and is nodding before he realizes it, the omega in him wanting to stop whatever conflict it seems to think is there before it starts. “Sure, I’d like that,” He forces his eyes to turn back to Tom. “Unless you needed me for something?”

Tom shakes his head. “No, you’re all set. I’ll see you guys at practice.” He’s looking at Julian a bit weird, but waves to them and makes his way back to the building. When the doors close behind him, Julian pulls his hand away from where it was gripping onto the omega’s wrist.

“Sorry.” The alpha apologizes, and Danny can tell he’s being genuine.

Danny rubs his wrist. “It’s okay,” He says. He doesn’t mention how his wrist feels like it’s a little too warm now.

Julian’s smile comes back. “Thanks,” He grabs Danny’s hand this time and starts leading them to the parking lot. Danny revels in the warmth it brings back. “I didn’t mean to just like, grab you and freak you out or anything. But I really can show you around. Or just take you home if you want.”

Part of Danny wants to deny him and just go home, but the omega in him is whining at him to accept the alpha’s offer. He wants to ask Julian why he’s doing this. “We could stop and get coffee or something?” Is what he ends up asking.

“Sure,” Julian agrees easily, and Danny’s taken back by the willingness of him. Any other alpha would’ve scoffed at his suggestion and decide for them to do something else.

Julian’s car smells entirely of him, like the beach and sunlight, and Danny kind of wants to bottle the scent.

“Anywhere in particular you wanna go for coffee?” Julian asks, starting the car.

“No, not really. I just kind of want something sweet.” He replies, subtly looking around the car. He glances over at the alpha at a red light, blushing when he sees Julian already looking at him with a slight smirk. Okay, so maybe not that subtle.

He clenches his jaw, trying not to wriggle himself deeper into the seat, because honestly? He wants to just melt into the alpha’s scent. It’s...disconcerting how much the omega in him wants to just roll over for the alpha. It’s even more disconcerting how much  _ he  _ wants that too.

He doesn’t realize he’s zoned out until there’s a pair of fingers snapping in front of his face.

“- anny? You with me, buddy?”

The car is parked at a local coffee shop. He blinks, shaking off his daze. “Yeah, uh, sorry.”

Julian smiles. “It’s no problem. It’s always weird moving to a new place. I remember how wide eyed I was when I first moved here.”

“Yeah,” Danny chuckles, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry, I’m just…”  _ Tired _ .  _ Overwhelmed _ . “...confused.”

“Confused?”

“Uh, I mean -” He flounders. “I, um, I don’t know actually.” He laughs weakly, leaning his head back against the seat, letting the scent of beach waves envelope him.

“You okay?” Julian asks, concern written on his face.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Everything’s just,” He waves a hand around. “I’m not used to alphas being nice to me.” He blurts out. He’s immediately mortified in what he’s said and he can feel his face flush. “I - I mean…”

Julian’s laughing fondly, and it’s making Danny blush harder. “It’s okay,” He reassures. “How do alphas usually treat you?”

“Um, well,” Danny shrugs. “They didn’t really pay attention to me. And when they did, it was normally asking if I had a mate, or if I needed any company for my heats,” He crosses his arms over himself.

Julian blinks. “Oh. You know, that’s not, um.” He lets out a breath. “Is that really how you were treated?”

Danny nods. “I’m an omega. Alphas look at me as if I’m just some rite of passage or something,” He drops his hands to his lap, eyes following them down. “It’s just the way society works,”

The alpha’s frowning, body turned in his seat to look at the omega. He doesn’t say anything, but Danny expected as much. There’s not much Julian  _ could  _ say to that.

“Well, um,” Julian starts. “The team’s not like that -  _ I’m _ not like that.”

And, well, that would be the best thing to say in this situation.

“Yeah, no - I mean,” He takes a breath. “I knew that. That’s one of the reasons I signed,” There’s a beat of silence filled with an awkward tension before Danny sighs and says, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make this all -” He shrugs his shoulders. “- heavy and shit.”

Julian shakes his head. “No, it’s fine...Um, thanks though,”

Danny gives him a confused look. “For what?”

The alpha shrugs. “For telling me that, you know? It sounds like you didn’t have it easy, and I’m...honored you told me,”

Danny blinks at him, trying to figure out what to fucking  _ say  _ to that. It’s not like he can say  _ Ah well, I feel this super weird connection to you for some reason, and you smell like safety _ , so he shrugs instead, smiling softly.

Julian smiles back, and suddenly everything’s back to normal, the tension gone from the air. “Come on,” He says, turning off the car. “I got places to show you.”

\-----

A few days later and Danny still can’t get the smell of the beach off his jacket. Which doesn’t actually bother him, he’d just rather not answer why he smells like Julian to the team. 

Tom still gives him an odd look when he walks into the locker room though.

“Hey, kid, ready for the game?” He greets, thankfully not questioning his jacket.

Danny nods. “I think the reporters are more excited,” He jokes.

Tom chuckles and pats him on the shoulder. “You’ll be great, prove all the assholes wrong.”

Danny smiles. “Yeah, thanks,” He jumps when someone draped their arms over his shoulders, body pressed up against his back.

“‘Dola!” Julian shouts, smiling, tucking his face into the crook of the omega’s neck.

He laughs. “Hi to you too, Jules,” He presses his own face into Julian’s hair, relaxing almost instantly.

“I see you two are getting along.” Tom points out, smiling.

Julian lifts his face to look at the other alpha. “Oh totally. We’re best bros, right?”

“Totally.” Danny agrees, smiling.

Tom rolls his eyes. “Go get ready. I’ll see you guys on the field.”

“Bye Tommy.” Julian calls. He spins Danny around so they’re facing each other. “You excited?”

“Mhm. Excited and nervous.” He answers, getting pulled to their lockers by Julian.

“You’re gonna kick ass, ‘Dola. Hey are those Twizzlers?” Julian asks, pointing to the top shelf of the omega’s locker.

“Um, yes?” Danny rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Just craving them, I guess, you know?”

Julian furrows his brows, but drops the subject. “Remember to save me one, for after we win, alright?”

He nods. “Yeah, ‘course,”

“Oh, and uh, try to ignore all the trash talk,” The blonde warns. “Buffalo can be kinda rough.”

He rolls his eyes, grabbing his helmet. “I’ve been around trash talk my whole life, kinda comes with the whole omega territory. I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Julian smiles. “You’ll be great.”

They finish getting ready, saying hey to the other players that arrive, and then they’re running out of the tunnel. It all feels a little surreal to Danny.

He’s sitting on the sidelines, watching the pregame celebrations, a Twizzler sticking out of his mouth. Rob, a hulking mass of an alpha who terrified Danny until he actually met the puppy, slides next to him on the bench.

“If it isn’t my favorite number eighty.” Rob greets, perpetual smile in place. He’s eyeing the bag of Twizzlers that’s in Danny’s lap.

“Hey, Gronk,” Danny says back, lifting the bag up to the alpha.

“Thanks, you’re the best!” Rob’s grin grows. “You know, you kinda smell like Jules,” He points out.

“Oh, yeah, he hugged me earlier in the locker room.” He shrugs, feeling his cheeks heat slightly.

“You guys are super cute,” Rob teases. “You guys scent like every time you see each other,”

“I’m always - wait, what? Scenting?” He asks. He knows about scenting, always thought it was something intimate and special. And Julian did that with him? Did that mean that Julian looked at him like that? His heart flutters in his chest, the omega in him practically purring.

“Yeah,” Rob says, reaching for another Twizzler. “You know, when Jules cuddles up to you and like, rubs his scent all over you,” He quirks an eyebrow. “Wait, you didn’t know?”

“No!” Danny splutters, blush full force on his face.

“It’s not a bad thing. Means he prolly likes you,” He bumps his shoulder against the omega’s. “Talk to him about it after the game.” He suggests.

 

Danny learns a few things from the game. One: Buffalo is fucking loud, and two: their fans are pretty fucking terrifying. Half the game was spent struggling to hear Tom over the crowd noise, while the other half was spent trying to ignore the omega insults that were thrown his way.

Keyword: Tried.

Sure, most of the insults were cliches, calling him an  _ omega bitch _ , telling him he doesn’t belong here, or offering to  _ stuff him with their knot _ . More than anything, it made him roll his eyes. What got to him was how it happened on  _ every single play _ . Like the other team’s players had never been around an actual omega before.

The fans were just as bad if not worse, bringing signs ( _ signs _ . Who even did that?) with omega slurs on them, catcalling and whistling at him, and yelling that  _ he needs to be put in his proper place _ .

It made his ears flush at the crudeness, only feeling satisfied when he made a leaping catch around a defender, shutting up the crowd for a little while.

He's exhausted after the game, and the team does their best to cheer him up, Tom even running out and buying him more Twizzlers, but Danny just wants to shower and leave.

Julian catches him as he’s shrugging on  his jacket. “Hey," he says, grabbing the omega’s shoulder. “You leaving already?”

Danny shrugs, zipping his jacket up. “Yeah. Don’t really wanna go out to celebrate, tired.”

He sees Julian frown out of the corner of his eye. “I could drive you home.” He offers.

“Nah, you should go out with the other guys,” A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Two touchdowns? The guys’ll be buying you drinks all night,”

Julian chuckles, slinging his arm around Danny’s shoulders, pulling him close. “I don’t feel up to going out,” He leans his head against the omega’s shoulder.

It makes Danny freeze, Rob’s words of  _ scenting _ and  _ liking him _ coming back to him.

“Hey, uh, Jules?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you, um, you know...why do you scent me all the time?” He asks, stuttering only slightly.

“What do you mean?” The blonde pulls back, giving him a confused look.

Danny shrugs a shoulder. “Rob said that we scent whenever we’re around each other. And that that’s why I always smell like you,” He thinks about telling the alpha that he doesn’t mind smelling like him, he was just getting sick of the odd looks.

“Oh,” Julian’s eyes widen. “ _ Oh _ . Do you not like it? I do it with a lot of my friends,”

Danny frowns. “You do?” He asks. “With friends?”

“Yeah,” Julian answers a little too forcefully. “Don’t you?”

He shakes his head. “Um, no, I - you’re the first person I’ve actually done it with.”

“Shit, seriously?”

“I mean, obviously if I didn’t realize we were even doing it.” Danny knows he’s being weirdly defensive about it, but he can feel the pain of rejection sting at his chest.

“I didn’t mean to like, make you upset,” Julian’s eyes are soft and concerned.

Danny shakes his head. “No, no, sorry,” He sighs. “I just...I always thought it was a...mate kinda thing?” Julian’s eyes widen. “Yeah, it was stupid.”

“It wasn’t. I - I didn’t realize…”

He waves Julian off. “Really, it’s fine, dude,”

Julian doesn’t look convinced. “I could stop doing it if you want?” He suggests.

Danny doesn’t want that, but he forces a smile and a nod anyway. “Yeah, that’d...yeah, thanks.” He bites the inside of his cheek. He turns and starts to leave, but Julian’s hand grabbing his wrist stops him.

“Go to dinner with me!” Julian blurts, cheeks flushing slightly.

He blinks, surprised. “W - what?”

Julian flushes harder. “I mean, like, we could go to dinner? Not even as a date." He's quick to add.

“Why?”

He shrugs. “Because, well, I like you and I like scenting with you, and I think dinner would be nice?”

Danny feels like his heart is in his throat. “Like...tonight?”

Julian smiles. “Tonight would work.”

Danny smiles softly. “I could go some for food.”

The alpha uses his hold on Danny’s wrist to pull him closer. Danny huffs out a breath, but goes with the pull, tucking his head up against Julian’s, breathing in the scent of the beach and sunlight.

“Hey, keep the PDA out of the locker room!” Rob shouts, smiling at them, a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Fuck off,” Julian mumbles.

Rob ignores him, instead asking, “You guys coming out with us? Tommy said he’s paying for the first round,”

“Can’t,” Julian responds, smiling at the other alpha. “Got plans.”

Rob looks between the two receivers, smile growing wider. “Oh yeah? Well don’t let me stop you guys,” He starts walking towards his own locker, pausing and looking back at Julian. “Don’t get him too scent drunk.”

Danny looks at Julian, confused. “Scent drunk?”

Julian shoots Rob a glare. “Nothing to worry about.”

He furrows his brows. “Um…”

The blonde turns his eyes back to him, expression softening. “I’ll explain later.”

Rob gives him a thumbs up, only increasing his confusion. “...yeah, okay.” He answers.

“Thanks a lot, asshole,” Julian grumbles to Rob who just laughs in response. “Really it’s nothing.” He reassures the omega. “It’s not even like getting drunk, it’s more like a high really. It rarely happens though,” He explains as they leave the building, arm wrapped around Danny’s shoulders.

“Is it a bad thing?” Danny asks. 

Julian shakes his head. “No, at least not that I’ve heard.” He shrugs. “I’ve never been scent drunk before so I wouldn’t know. I won’t get you scent drunk, promise.”

“Well I never said I  _ didn’t  _ want to get scent drunk...I just wanted to know more about it.” Danny admits quietly.

Julian’s eyebrows raise. “Oh, well, that could possibly be arranged.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Be a good boy and maybe you’ll find out.”

Danny shivers, a flare of arousal shooting through him at the alpha’s words. “I’ll be good.” He whispers, shy, looking at Julian through his eyelashes. He revels at the sharp intake of breath Julian takes and laughs, sliding out from under Julian’s arm and into the car.

They haven’t even gone on the date yet and he already wants to get on his knees for the alpha. He is so fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am ashamed. Will be more ashamed in future chapters (chapter 4 specifically cough), but yeah, I'm already going to hell, might as well have some fun before I go.  
> [Stalk me on tumblr](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com)


	2. No Fireworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up yesterday, but I got locked out of my account, so, it's up today instead. I might just have updates consist on Sundays? So, we'll see how that goes.  
> The game featured is from week 5 in Dallas of the 2015-2016 season.  
> Also, I forgot to thank [accio-incredelman](http://accio-incredelman.tumblr.com/) who gave me a HUGE list of games to work with.  
> Chapter title from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P65Z7fcSXSY).

Out of the two ways Danny thought the date with Julian would go, it went neither. Instead, Julian seemed to know a place where the media rarely went and it was the most relaxed date Danny had ever been on. There were no crude suggestions from other alphas, and his date didn’t leave because he wouldn’t act submissive. Overall, it was a success and it had Danny smiling and feeling warm for the rest of the night.

Two days later, reality came pouring down around him. When he wakes up, there’s multiple texts from his family telling him to read the sports news, and he even had a few from Tom and Julian telling him that the media reporters don’t know anything and to not listen to them.

He’s still blinking the sleep out of his eyes and stumbling to his kitchen to make coffee when his phone starts ringing, and jesus, how early are these people awake? He blearily looks at the clock that’s blinking 7:38 back at him as he answers his phone.

“Hello?”

_“Danny?”_

He stifles a yawn. “Hey, Jules. What’s with all the warning texts?”

_“You...didn’t read any articles?”_

“No…?” He watches the coffee drip into his mug, anxiousness starting to build in his chest.

A sigh comes down the line. _“Don’t. Look, I mean.”_

The anxiousness increases as he becomes more awake. “Is it bad?” He scoffs. “Wait, that was stupid, of course it’s bad if you’re calling me warning me not to read them.”

_“I mean, you can read them, just...look, can I come over?”_

He hesitates, looking down at his sweatpants and shirtless torso. “Um, sure.”

_“Great, I’ll be over in ten.”_

The phone hangs up and he stares down at it before shrugging and swiping his mug off the counter, making his way to his bedroom. He’s still pretty sluggish, burning his throat on the coffee as he tugs on a tee shirt and a Texas Tech hoodie.

He’s finishing his coffee as the doorbell rings and he shuffles out to open the door. Julian’s standing there, smiling a little nervously, sunglasses in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other.

“Hey, ‘Dola,” He starts, walking into the house. “How’re you?”

“Good,” He answers, cautiously, shutting the door. “Everything okay with you guys?”

Julian nods. “Oh, yeah, totally. Well, um, there’s some articles that are talking about you. And by some, I mean a lot. And almost none of it is good.”

Danny feels his stomach drop. “Really?”

“Um, yeah. It’s...not good. It’s mostly just talking about how you need an alpha, how you shouldn’t be getting paid as much as you are, and how omegas shouldn’t be allowed to play in professional sports.” Julian says, tone dripping with a subtle anger. “It’s all bullshit.” He falls down onto Danny’s couch and watches as the omega starts to pace.

“I can’t be the only omega playing in professional sports,” Danny says, begs really, feeling this need to feel...validated. Less alone.

Julian watches from his couch, eyes following Danny. “You’re not, I have a friend in the NHL who’s an omega.”

Danny stops pacing. “You do?”

“Yeah,” Julian nods. “His name is Tyler,”

“Is - is he bonded with anyone?” He asks, hesitant. He doesn’t want to make it obvious that being bonded makes a difference, but it does, and going by the look the alpha gives him, subtlety is something he needs to work on.

“He...is,” Julian says slowly. “But the media doesn’t know,”  

“But you know?” He asks.

Julian shrugs. “Like I said: we’re friends. We could probably see them when we go down to Dallas this week,” He suggests.

He blinks a little, contemplating. “We could? I’d...I’d like that, I think,” His head is starting to pound a little and he sighs, sitting down on the couch next to the other receiver. “It shouldn’t even be a big deal.”

“For who, you or the media?”

“For me. I’ve lived with being an omega my whole life, people warned me about getting into the NFL, that it was gonna be harder for me,” He shuts his eyes and leans against Julian. “They just failed to mention that it would be like a perpetual media day,”

Julian’s quiet for a minute, before running a hand through Danny’s hair softly. “‘M sorry,”

Danny laughs. “For what? It’s not your fault,” He licks his lips. “But thanks.” He whispers, pressing closer to Julian. “You’re the only person to ever apologize, you know.”

“No problem,” They sit there like that; Danny curled up against Julian, a hand running through the brunette’s hair.

“I don’t wanna do press conferences today,” Danny mumbles.

“You don’t need to. I’m sure Tommy’ll let you off the hook. And yell at the reporters as well.”

He laughs into Julian’s shoulder. “Yeah, he better.”

Julian chuckles, using his nails to scratch at Danny’s scalp a little. “I’ll text Tyler that you want to meet him when we go down on Saturday.”

“Yeah, okay. Is he gonna be upset that you told me he’s bonded?” Danny asks.

Julian takes a second to consider the question. “Probably not. He’s normally pretty chill about it, but his mate might be more upset. It’ll be fine though.”

And if Danny had a nickel for every time he heard that, he wouldn’t need a six million dollar paycheck.

\-----

Dallas is everything that Danny remembered, mostly bigoted with the occasional nice soul. Everything in him itches when they land, scared that he’ll run into somebody he knows from school, someone he knows that told him he was never gonna make it. Because, yeah he proved them wrong sure, but he doesn’t want anyone asking his opinion on the articles (that he totally _didn’t_ read after Julian left).

He’s happy Tom managed to get the reporters off his case for a little while, but he still feels wound up tight, waiting for someone to ask him something so he can blow up. He can’t. He _knows_ he can’t, but _god_ does he want to.

He thinks that maybe he should just stay in the hotel, hide in his room and only leave for practice and the game, but Julian’s knocking at his door to meet Tyler Saturday night.

He answers the door, flinching a little when Julian’s eyes widen at his state.

“You gotta put jeans on at least,” Julian says, eyes looking at the sweatpants the omega is wearing.

Danny shrugs. “Don’t feel like it,”

Julian sighs. “C’mon, media’s gonna be everywhere,”

“So? They already think I’m not fit enough for the NFL,” Danny says, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah, you wanna give them more reason to think that?” Julian challenges, frowning.

He sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. Lemme just…” He motions his hand back to the bag sitting on the floor at the base of his bed.

Julian smirks, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t let me stop you.”

He flushes, turning away from the alpha. “Wasn’t planning on it,” He quips, searching in his bag for a pair of jeans. He shimmies out of his sweatpants, feeling Julian’s eyes on him. He pulls the jeans up and looks at Julian over his shoulder. “Enjoy the view?”

Julian winks at him. “Loved it.”

Danny flushes harder and slaps Julian’s shoulder. “Asshole. Let’s go meet your friend already.”

They manage to push through the media that’s in front of the hotel, all hoping to get a comment or a glimpse of the omega. Julian calls them a cab that takes them to an apartment complex. Danny can feel the nerves in his stomach erupt again, anxiety curling up and gripping onto his heart slightly.

Julian grips onto his hand in the elevator ride up and he squeezes it in thanks.

“You nervous?” Julian asks as the elevator doors swish open.

He nods. “A little, the last omega I met was...in a bad place.” He shivers a little, remembering the omega, _call me Conor_ , and how his parents hated him because he was an omega and how depressed he was all the time. He wonders if the omega ever told that alpha how he felt. He wonders if that omega is even still alive.

“It’ll be great, he’ll like you,” Julian reassures.

“And the alpha?”

“He’ll...Tyler’ll keep in in check, don’t worry.” Julian smiles warmly at Danny and the omega feels himself smiling back on reflex.

Danny is nervous. Hell, he’s fucking terrified, and Julian has a tight hold on his hand and is knocking on the door before Danny can turn and try and leave. He drops his hand when the door swings open.

“Seggs!” Julian greets, smiling wide. “How’s my favorite NHL omega?”

The guy - Tyler - pouts. “Only the NHL favorite omega? I used to be your _only_ favorite omega,” He tugs them both into the apartment. And even though Danny knows Tyler is joking, he still feels a slight pang of...something. Not jealousy because that would be ridiculous, they aren't even dating.

There’s another person coming to greet them, an alpha, a huge, broad one at that, who wraps an arm around Tyler. He makes Danny nervous and he moves closer to Julian, arms pressed against each other.

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “What can I say, you got some competition now.” He gestures to Danny. “Danny, this is Tyler, and that’s Jamie acting all scary. He’s not.” He nods to the pair. “And this is Danny.”

Tyler gives him a small wave, smiling. “So you’re the famous omega who has the reporters in a flurry,”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “He means ‘it’s nice to meet you’.” His voice is thick with an accent, Canadian.

Danny smiles back, nervous. “It’s fine. It’s, um, nice to meet you guys too.”

They talk, and it’s nice, _they’re_ nice. Tyler knows exactly what it’s like to be new, to be _traded_ , to be an omega in a society that still thinks omegas need to be monitored.

“It’s hard, and the media will always talk shit about one thing or the other,” Tyler shrugs slightly. “You just gotta prove them wrong.”

And Danny, he knows this, knows he has to prove everyone wrong, he’s been doing it his whole life. Just, suddenly being in the limelight is...overwhelming to say the least.

Tyler laughs then. “You should’ve seen what they were writing about me -”

“Not like you were doing anything to help yourself,” Jamie cuts in.

Tyler whines, slapping him on the shoulder. “I was a fucking angel,” He looks at Danny. “I really was. ‘S’how I met this lug,”

“I had to babysit your ass.”

“Babysit?” Tyler scoffs. “Please, you lived for it.”

He leaves feeling, good? Better? Better than he did going in. Feels assured in a way that he hasn’t felt since high school. Maybe, he thinks, maybe after a couple more games people will stop talking about him, will remember that there are other players on this team. Maybe.

There’s also a feeling of, not sadness, but a feeling of subtle longing seeing how Tyler and Jamie acted. He’s never had anything like that, the complete comfort the mated pair seemed to have with each other. He wonders if he’d like having that with someone - can’t imagine why he wouldn’t, but maybe he’d hate having someone know almost everything about him. Maybe.

Julian’s the first one to break the silence. “You feeling better?”

He shrugs, looking up at the sky as they wander around Dallas. “Not feeling any worse,”

The alpha chuckles. “Well at least that’s a plus,” He pauses before, “You wanna go get something to eat?”

Danny smiles. “Please.”

\-----

The chemistry between him and Julian continues to grow - both on and off the field - and when he manages to make an unflagged pick play, getting Julian to score, his chest fills with pride.

“Good job, kid,” Tom compliments when they’re back on the bench, hand ruffling his hair.

He smiles, setting his helmet down. “Dunno how I didn’t get flagged,” He admits.

Julian sits down next to him, bumping shoulders with him. “‘Cause you’re awesome.”

Danny flushes. “ _You_ got the touchdown.” He points out.

“Wouldn’t’ve if it wasn’t for you.” Julian counters.

He knows a compliment when he sees it, so he nods, smiling. He leans back against the bench, tuning out the crowd noise coming from behind him. Dallas is...marginally worse than Buffalo, because there’s less overall noise, but he can hear more insults being slewn his way. He’s dreading Indianapolis.

The game goes by in a blur after that, the sky going dark, and then he’s in the locker room, reporters surrounding him and feeling only a little nervous. He’s got a Twizzler in his mouth along with another packet of them in his locker.

“How do you feel about the win?”

Danny shrugs a shoulder, smiling. “I feel good. It was a good team win,”

“Speaking of the team,” One of the reporters start. “You’ve been seen with Julian a few times.”

He knows what the reporter is suggesting and shrugs again. “You know, just a good teammate helping another one. Showing me the ropes and all New England has to offer.” He reaches for another Twizzler.

They seem to pick up on the fact that he’s not going to say anything else, and there’s another question to his left. “Big fan of Twizzlers?” He chuckles and nods. “Is it a pre and post game kinda food?”

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t really have pre and post game snacks.” He doesn’t elaborate.

A female reporter asks, “Does it have something to do with your heat? They tend to come with cravings like this,”

“Um, I, no.” He stutters, face starting to burn a little. “No. It’s not that.”

“Well heats must pose a serious problem for you, how do you plan on dealing with them now that you’re with the Patriots?” Asks the same blonde reporter.

He blinks, surprised, then angry. “I don’t think that’s an appropriate question and I don’t feel comfortable answering that. I will say that I dealt with it last season in St. Louis, so I should be fine.” And he’s done. “Thanks, guys.”

He’s chewing on another Twizzler and thinks about what the one reporter said about the cravings and his heat. He already suffered through three of his four heats, he shouldn’t be due for it again, not for another, he counts on his fingers, three weeks.

He shakes the thoughts off and glances over at Julian’s locker and smiles softly, listening to his interview as best as he can.

“You and Danny seem to be pretty close off the field,” A reporter - the _same_ reporter who asked about his heat asks.

Julian smiles. “Oh, yeah, couple dates, no big deal.” And fuck. Fuck, fuck, fucking hell, because all the reporters are asking more questions about it now and he just answered that same question with a completely different (platonic) answer.

He’s too busy inwardly panicking to notice that the reporter says something else, something that makes the alpha shoot a look over to him. He gathers his stuff as quickly as he can, wanting to leave, like, _yesterday_.

“Hey, Danny,” It’s only Rob who’s smiling and giving Danny a wave.

He smiles, a little forced. “What’s up?”

“You coming out to get drinks with us? Or do you and Jules got something planned?” Rob smirks, making the omega flush.

“Nah, just wanna get to the hotel and get some sleep,” And it’s not really a lie - he’s exhausted and would love to sleep, but he’d rather do something with Julian if he’s being honest with himself, which he isn’t.

“‘Dola!” And speak of the devil. Julian looks tired too, but also...mad?

Rob seems to pick up on it too and purses his lips, making his way over to Tom instead.

“Hey, Jules,” Danny greets, cautiously, hand tightening where it’s gripping onto his bag strap.

“Yeah, hey. So, um,” Julian fidgets. “A reporter told me they asked you about us, you know, going on dates and shit, and that you said it was just one teammate helping another?”

And oh, _oh_ , he’s _nervous_ and Danny would find it adorable, except for he doesn’t know how to respond. “Um, I did, but like..” _I like you, and yes I’d love for those to be dates too_ . He means to say that. He really does, only, “Was it more than that?” Comes out instead, because he _didn’t know_ , wanted them to be dates, but didn’t want to get his hopes up and well -

“Was it?” Julian counters, eyes hard now with his arms crossed over his chest. Asserting dominance without even realizing it.

“I, um, it was - I mean,” He’s floundering and he can feel his face getting hot. “I, I told the reporters what I thought it was.”

Julian’s eyes narrow. “You didn’t realize they were dates?” When Danny doesn’t answer he laughs without humor. “You didn’t. Was it because you really didn’t realize it, or because you didn’t want them to be dates?”

Danny’s eyebrows furrow, because _of course_ he wanted them to be dates. He tries to stammer out a sentence - _anything_ , but can’t, the omega in him scared that the alpha standing in front of him seems angry at him.

Julian seems to take his silence as an answer and he scoffs, frowning, before turning away.

Danny’s grabbing his hand before he registers it. “Jules, wait -”

But Julian seems to be done with him because he whirls around, baring his teeth and growling softly at him. He flinches back, a distressed whine leaving his throat. He just wants to _explain_ , but Rob and Tom are standing between them, Rob pushing Julian back, and Tom standing in front of him.

“Hey, hey - Danny, look at me.” Tom’s concerned voice washes over him and he snaps his eyes to meet Tom’s. “Hey, are you okay?”

He’s trembling because he’s not. He’s _really not_ , but he tips his head in a nod anyway. “Yeah.” He whispers, but he can tell Tom doesn’t believe him, lips pursed as he tries to figure out what to do. “I wanna leave.”

Tom nods. “Yeah, alright, I can take you.”

He nods again, only noticing that he’s dropped his bag when Tom scoops it up. He tries to get a glimpse of Julian, but Rob’s blocking his view, and then Tom’s arm is wrapped around his shoulders and he’s being ushered out of the building.

\-----

Julian’s pushing against Rob, trying to get past him. “ _Let go_ ,” He snarls, twisting in the bigger alpha’s arms.

“ _No_.” Rob growls right back, looking over his shoulder to see Tom leave with Danny.

“I’ve gotta - I’ve gotta get to Danny.” Julian protests, straining his neck to see where the omega has gone. 

Rob turns his head back to him. “You’ve gotta _calm down_ ,”

He shakes his head. “I need to apologize, need to -” He goes limp. “I’ve gotta _go_.”

Rob slowly lets go of Julian, still tensed in case he tries to run. “Yeah, you do need to apologize. You also need to fucking explain to me what the hell happened.”

He shakes his head. “I was, I was upset, I told the reporters the times we went out were dates. The reporters said -”

“Since when is listening to reporters a good idea?”

“- _Danny_ said that he didn’t think our dates were dates.” He closes his eyes. “And he was gonna say something, but I - _my wolf_ \- was mad, and I.” He shakes his head again, swallowing hard.

Rob rolls his eyes. “You ever think that maybe Danny didn’t want the media to know they were dates? He’s not as open about his class as me and you are.”

“Oh,” Julian blinks. “Shit. I gotta - can I?”

“Tomorrow.” Rob decides. “You gotta give him some space.”

“But I, I didn’t mean to do it.” Julian says desperately.

Rob rests a hand on his shoulder. “He probably knows that, but he was shaking pretty bad. Just let Tom take care of him tonight, okay?”

_"But it_ _should be me_.”

“Yeah, maybe, but it’s okay. You screwed up, and you can apologize _tomorrow_.” Rob smiles then. “I think I got a beer somewhere with your name on it.”

Julian smiles, shoulders slumping in relieved acceptance. “Thanks.”

Rob’s smile widens. “No problem. Tom’s prolly gonna chew your ass out tomorrow though.”

And Julian kind of figured that, so he nods and follows Rob out of the locker room.

\-----

Danny is still trembling when they reach his hotel room, hands shaking so bad that Tom has to slide the card in to open the door.

“Did you shower yet?” Tom asks as the door is clicking shut behind him.

“Yeah,” He answers, nodding. “Are you…” He licks his lips. “Can you stay?” He asks, barely audible. He feels strung too tight, scared of everything without having any reason.

Tom’s face softens, and he pulls Danny into a hug that has him feeling safe. It’s not perfect, the scent of honeyed whiskey taking the place of beach waves, but he still breathes it in, letting it calm him down.

Within the hour he’s dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt, wrapped up in the covers on the bed, curled up against Tom, head nestled on the alpha’s chest, listening to him talk on the phone.

“‘M with Danny. Yeah, he’s okay, I will. Love you too.” He leans over to place his phone on the nightstand. “Giselle wishes you the best.”

Danny nods, eyelids heavy and drooping a little bit more each time he blinks. “You guys are great. Thanks for staying with me.”

“Of course. And you know that Jules didn’t mean to snap at you, right?”

He nods, eyes shut. “Uh huh, just gotta explain,” He slurs, more asleep than awake. “Like ‘im a lot, think my heat’s getting triggered by him.” He thinks he feels Tom tense next to him, but he’s already asleep before he can give it any thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and indulging my weird fantasies. Leave a comment if you feel like it, those always make me happy.  
> [Come talk to me on tumblr](http://exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com/)


	3. No Lies, Just Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Communication is key.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be up tomorrow, but I'm sick and it hurts to move and I thought what the hell, let's get this up now. There might not be any update this week after this 'cause Passover's coming up and PREPARATIONS.  
> So enjoy!  
> Chapter title from [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM_hIwvI7uU) song.

Danny blinks his eyes open, dreams of sunny beaches fading as voices from the doorway get louder.

“C’mon, Tom, lemme just talk to him.” It’s _Julian_ , and Danny’s much more awake now.

“He’s not even awake yet,”

Danny sits up, shifting the covers off of him and walking quickly to the door. “I’m awake now.” He says. He glances up at Tom. “Can I talk to him?”

Tom pauses, considering, before nodding. “I’ll go back to my room. You’re good, right?”

He nods. “Yeah, promise. Thanks, Tommy.”

“No problem, kid.” Tom ruffles his hair before sliding past Julian and out the door.

“Hey,” Julian greets. He looks tired, dressed in the same thing he was wearing last night, minus the leather jacket. Danny wonders if he slept at all. “Can I talk to you?”

Danny nods silently, crossing his arms over himself. “Sure.”

“Okay, well, um, first I’m really sorry that I growled at you yesterday. My wolf... _I_ was confused and upset and I lashed out. I swear I didn’t mean it. And um,” Julian rubs the back of his neck. “It seemed like you were gonna explain something and I didn’t let you. So. I’m sorry for that, too.”

Danny listens to everything and takes a shuddering breath when Julian is finished talking. “You were an asshole, and like, you wouldn’t even let me explain myself,”

“I know, I know, and I’m _sorry_ , I’m _so sorry_.” Julian takes a step towards him. “But you can explain now,”

He swallows. “I’m just...I wanted those ‘platonic hangouts’ to be dates - I still want them to be dates, I just don’t want people to know. Not because I don’t want to be seen with you,” He quickly adds when he sees Julian’s face drop a little. “Like, the team and personal friends can know, I just don’t want _others_ others to know. I still have to prove myself on the field, and going on a couple dates with a teammate and an _alpha_ wouldn’t help me right now.” He furrows his brows. “I know you don’t understand, but...the reporters, they’d eat it up and god only knows what kind of headlines there would be.”

Julian’s quiet for a few seconds before, “No, I kinda get it. I just,” He shrugs, flushing a little. “I wanna show you off. Wanna take you out places and have people know we’re together,”

Danny’s heart fucking melts. “And you can. Just...not now. It’s gonna be slow.”

Julian nods. “I can accept that.”

The omega smiles softly. “So…”

“So…?” Julian steps forward and pulls Danny towards his chest, hugging him. “‘M sorry.” He whispers into Danny’s hair.

Danny tucks his head against Julian’s chest, the lingering scent of honeyed whiskey getting replaced by sun soaked beaches. It feels safe - feels right. He vaguely remembers telling Tom about his suspicions of Julian triggering his heat and wonders if he should bring it up. Despite his better judgment, he decides against saying anything.

“We have to get ready, we’re gonna leave soon,” He says quietly, not wanting their little bubble to break. “I’ve gotta take a shower.”

Julian breaks the hug. “Need any help with that?” He asks, cocking an eyebrow.

Danny’s face goes hot. “I think I’m good, but thanks for the offer.”

“But I’m a great shower buddy,” The alpha say, pouting.

He laughs. “Don’t be too discouraged, I might take you up on that offer some other time.” He pushes his the alpha towards the door. “You should go shower too.”

“We could shower together though, save water!” Julian laughs, going where the omega’s pushing him, even though they both know he could easily overpower him. He stops at the door. “Hey, so I’ll meet you in the lobby?”

Danny nods. “Yes. Now _go_ , I have to shower.”

“Think of me while you’re in there!”

He rolls his eyes, fading blush reappearing. “You wish.” He goes to close the door.

“‘Dola, wait,” He pulls the door back open. Julian pushes his head through, smiling, and gives Danny a quick peck on the corner of his lips. “Okay, bye now.” He winks, ducking out of the doorway.

The blush is back full force now and he closes the door He brushes his fingers against his lips, smiling softly to himself. He makes his way to the bathroom and turns the shower on, looking at himself in the mirror above the sink. He doesn’t look like an average omega, isn’t clean shaven, isn’t built like a lithe, fragile thing. And yet.

He has the soft brown eyes, the full lips and high cheekbones, will get weak in the knees if someone grabs the back of his neck or raises their voice, has the natural urge to _submit_ and _please_ others. Sure he can hold his own and fights on the field ever get too serious, but his wolf _howls_ at him, telling him that he’s _acting wrong - going against his instincts._

He wants to tell Julian that he’s triggering his heat, but another part of him wants Julian to like him for _him_ , not because he’s an omega going into heat. He knows it’s stupid, has a pretty good idea that Julian likes _him_ , but he’s still scared, still remembers the last alpha to show him interest, remembers how cherished and _wanted_ he felt and -

He cuts those thoughts off, shaking his head and realizes that the mirror has fogged up from the, now, hot shower. He strips off his clothes and steps under the hot water, hissing and adjusting the temperature. He washes himself quickly, hand pausing when it brushes his dick. He could, he _so_ could, but Julian would just _know_ that he jerked off to him, so instead he cleans himself efficiently, definitely not thinking about Julian or anything related to the alpha.

“You’re so fucked.” He mumbles to himself as he pulls on a pair of pants. “ _So fucking_ fucked.” He pulls on a shirt and makes sure everything’s packed away in his bag before exiting his room and heading towards the lobby.

Tom sees him first and comes over to him, his own bag slung over a shoulder. “You doing okay, kid?” He asks.

“Still kinda tired, but yeah, I’m okay.” Danny responds.

“So you and Jules are all good?”

He nods, smiling. “Yeah, we talked. I think he understands.”

The alpha smiles. “That’s great.” He looks over at the rest of the team and pulls Danny a little further away. “You mentioned something last night, something about your heat,”

“Oh, yeah, that. Um, yeah, I think it’s true,” Danny scratches the back of his head.

“How early do you think?”

He shrugs. “I...I don’t know. Maybe a couple of weeks?” He says quietly. “We have time.”

“Okay, okay, that’s good, you’re right, we have time,” Tom agrees, nodding. “Are you gonna tell Jules?”

“I, um, no. Not yet. In a little while,” Danny promises, though if he’s promising Tom or himself, he’s not sure.

“Alright, but you do know you have to tell him, right?” Tom presses.

He nods. “Yeah, yeah. Hey, thanks again for staying with me last night. Did, did you say anything to Jules before I woke up?”

Tom shakes his head. “I told him that I was in your room because you didn’t wanna be alone, it seemed like he knew that already though, and then he asked if he could talk to you.” He furrows his brows. “I wouldn’t tell him about your heat.”

“I didn’t think you would.” Danny says quickly. “Have you seen Jules yet?”

“He hasn’t come down yet, he’ll probably be here soon.” Tom adjusts the bag on his shoulder. “Better be here, we’re leaving soon.”

Danny laughs and waves Tom off when Rob calls the alpha over, falling onto one of the couches placed in the lobby. He leans his head back against the couch, letting his eyes fall shut. He’s fucking exhausted, upcoming heat making him more tired than usual. He’s tired and wants Twizzlers and, more than anything, he wants to cuddle up Julian and sleep for a few more hours.

There’s a pressure next to his head and when he opens his eyes, he sees Julian leaning over the back of the couch next to him, smiling. The alpha presses a quick kiss to Danny’s cheek and then he’s walking around the couch, sitting next to the other receiver.

Danny flushes, looking around to make sure no one has seen them. “Hey,” He greets, resting his head against Julian’s shoulder, shutting his eyes again.

“You tired?” Julian asks, resting his own head on top of the omega’s.

Danny nods, stifling a yawn. “Yeah, ‘m gonna sleep on the plane,” Julian hums, setting an arm on the back of the couch, fingers just resting on Danny’s shoulder. “‘M gonna use you as a pillow.”

“That is _completely_ alright with me.” Julian says, chuckling. “You have to let me use you as a pillow then sometime.”

“Deal.”

\-----

It’s four days and two dates later that Danny brings up his heat. They’re back at Julian’s apartment, huddled on the couch together with something or other on the television. He isn’t really paying attention to the television, instead focusing on pressing kisses along Julian’s jaw.

“Hey, so there’s something I need to tell you.” He says against the alpha’s neck.

Julian stiffens. “Is it something bad?”

“No, no, well, depends on how you see it.” Danny answers, blush rising on the back of his neck. He continues when Julian nods. “Okay, so, well, my heat may be getting triggered? Maybe by you?”

Julian’s quiet for a minute, taking that in. “ _Maybe_ by me?” He asks.

Danny nods. “Probably by you, yeah.”

“When’d you figure that out?”

“Like, a week and a half after I met you,” He answers, ducking his head, not meeting the alpha’s eyes.

Julian grips Danny’s chin gently and lifts his face so their eyes meet. “Hey, no, I’m not mad,” He says gently. “I’m just a little surprised, I’ve never triggered someone’s heat before,”

“I’ve never had my heat triggered by anyone,” Danny says, huffing a small laugh. “I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out,” Julian reassures, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

Danny’s heart lifts. “Yeah? We?”

“ _Yes_ , we,” Julian says, smiling. “Did you think that I was just gonna leave you to deal with it yourself?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “I didn’t know, I was hoping you wouldn’t,” He admits, soft blush rising on his cheeks.

“I would never leave you to deal with something like this alone. Especially if I’m the reason because of it,” He kisses Danny again, cradling his face between his hands. “Besides,” He says into the kiss. “We’re dating now.”

A small moan gets pulled from the back of Danny’s throat. “Dating huh?” He asks when he breaks the kiss, lips swollen and red.

“Yep, dating.” Julian declares confidently, smiling.

It should turn Danny off, hearing Julian claim they’re dating as confidently as he does, but instead it makes something warm bloom in his stomach, travelling up to his chest as well. “That sounds pretty good to me.” He says, tucking his head into Julian’s chest.

They’re quiet for a little while, the soft sound of the television lulling Danny half asleep. His eyes are half closed when he asks, “Do you think the fans here won’t be assholes when we play on Sunday?”

Julian hums, carding his fingers through the brunette’s hair. “They won’t be assholes, they’re excited you’re here playing with us. Can’t say anything about the Steelers fans that’ll be there though.”

“We’ll beat them and then they won’t have anything to say.” Danny mumbles, smiling.

“That’s the spirit,” Julian says. When Danny presses more on top of him, he chuckles. “How come _I_ always get used as the pillow?”

“‘Cause you’re comfortable.” Danny answers, wriggling enough to the point where they end up lying flat on the couch, Danny completely draped over the alpha, head resting on his chest.

Julian laughs and shifts under him to get more comfortable. “God, you’re like a fucking cat.”

Danny just chuckles back, letting his eyes flutter shut. He’s been tired, _so_ tired lately, and he’s surprised no one’s said anything to him about it. He can’t remember ever being this tired when his heat was coming up before, but each heat is different, it’s not like it means anything. At least, he hopes it doesn’t mean anything.

\-----

The few days leading up to the third game of the season is filled with speculation on Danny, on what he can really bring to the team, if his heat is becoming a problem and, if it is, what is the team planning on doing for it?

Danny goes onto the field with a chip on his shoulder and it pays off, racking up ninety one yards before the first half ends. He doesn’t know if Tom throws to him more often on purpose or because he’s really the only guy open on the field, but he goes into halftime feeling better than he ever has.

Julian bounds up to him. “Almost a hundred yards!” He cheers, throwing his arms around the omega’s neck. “Knew you’d be amazing.”

“Thanks, Jules.” Danny laughs, wrapping his arms around his waist to return the hug. He wants to say that it was only the first half and that it’s only one game, but Julian’s looking at him with shining eyes, proud, so Danny just lets his chest fill with warmth and he smiles back.

Tom comes over to them, patting them both on the shoulder. “Hey, can I talk to Danny for a sec?” He asks. Julian nods, still smiling, and gives Danny one more smile before walking towards Rob, giving them privacy.

“What’s up?” Danny asks as soon as Julian seems to be out of earshot.

“Did you tell him?”

“What? Oh, about my heat? Yeah, I told him a few nights ago when I was at his house,” He answers, running a hand through his damp hair.

“Hey, that’s great, you guys going on dates and stuff,” Tom practically coos, making Danny blush. “Just make sure that it doesn’t affect anything on the field, alright?”

Danny rolls his eyes. “Yes, coach.” He says sarcastically, then, more genuine, “Our playing won’t be affected, promise.”

“Good.” Tom nods. He gestures towards where Julian’s not so subtly glancing at them. “Now go tend to your boyfriend before he explodes from curiosity.”

Danny laughs, punching Tom in the shoulder before making his way to where the other receiver is. “Your subtlety sucks,” He jokes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Julian responds, though he smiles. “Is everything alright?”

He nods. “Yeah, Tommy just wanted to know about my…” He lowers his voice. “My heat,”

Julian narrows his eyes slightly. “Why?”

“Calm down there, he just wanted to know if I told you. He didn’t offer to help me through it,” He rolls his own eyes. “He’s married, remember?”

“Married to another _alpha_ , who knows the last time he was with an omega,” Julian sniffs. “Besides…” He trails off, mumbling something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Besides,” Julian huffs. “You can’t tell me you’ve never noticed how good your scent is,” His face reddens slightly at the confession.

“What? No, I never did.” Danny says, honestly, because he _didn’t_ , he never had many alphas compliment him on his scent before. “What - what’s the scent like?”

Julian shrugs a shoulder. “I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like warm blankets, and rain water...it’s like home.” He answers softly.

Danny can feel his cheeks warm. “Oh.” He says. “I didn’t - I’ve never…” He bites the inside of his cheek. “Thanks.”

Julian smiles and ruffles his hair. “Yeah, no problem.” He changes the subject. “You ready for the second half?”

“Yeah.” He leans his head against the alpha’s shoulder, paying half attention when the coaches start talking about things they did right and things they need to work on for the second half.

\-----

It’s definitely Danny’s biggest game as a Patriot so far and he’s still smiling as he changes.

Julian comes up to him, bumping shoulders with him. “And you thought Foxborough would hate you,” He teases.

Danny laughs and shoves him. “Oh fuck off,” He lowers his voice. “We’re still on for later, right?”

Julian nods. “Totally, I’ll come get you once the press is done surrounding me.” He claps Danny on the shoulder and nods over to where there’s a handful of reporters waiting for the omega. “Good luck.”

Danny groans and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, thanks.” He plasters on a smile, heading towards his locker. “Hey,” He greets the reporters.

“Danny, you had a great game today.” One of them compliments.

He smiles, albeit a bit forced. “Thanks, felt good out there.”

“So there’s been talks about some friction between you and Julian, anything you want to comment on?”

His smile falls slightly. Of course there wouldn’t be anymore talk about the game. “Not particularly. You guys make up the headlines.” He says. He knows he probably shouldn’t have said it, can already hear the upper management berating him. “There isn’t anything going on between us to talk about.”

One of the reporters, a brunette, asks, “Is it true that Tom spent a night in your hotel room?”

He doesn’t know what to say to that, but knows he needs to say _something_ to that or else the media will come up with god knows what. “Nothing fun to tell about that, sorry.” Is all he decides to say.

“Do you think you’ll have more games with this many yards in the future?”

“Well I hope so,” He jokes, earning a couple laughs. “I think if I keep increasing my chemistry with the other guys, I have a good chance in getting more games like this.” He sees Julian peek above one of the reporters’ shoulders. “That’s all guys, thanks.” He dismisses them, turning back to his locker.

“You okay?” Julian asks him once all the reporters disperse.

He looks up at the alpha. “Yeah, wasn’t too bad. I had at least one question about the game, so that was a new record.” He jokes.

Julian hums and leans his side against the locker. “So, food then?” He asks. “I’ll pay.”

Danny smiles, shouldering his bag. “Well if you’re paying, then sure.”

“You only want me ‘cause I always pay when we go out.” Julian teases, huffing out a small laugh.

He rolls his eyes. “Excuse you, I paid the last time we got food.” He protest. He wants to slide his hand into Julian’s, but there’s still reporters milling around other players and it already looks a little suspicious that they’re leaving together.

He waits until they’re outside before sliding his hand into the alpha’s, relishing in the smile that Julian shoots his way. “You good?” Julian asks in relation to their hands.

“I wouldn’t’ve done if it I wasn’t,” He points out, giving the hand a squeeze. “Where we getting food?”

“Kinda wanna just take you back to my place if I’m honest.” Julian admits with a smirk.

Danny flushes slightly. “You promised me food.”

“We’ll still get food,” Julian defends. “It’ll just be takeout,”

“Chinese food?” He suggests.

Julian smiles. “Whatever you want.” He promises, opening the passenger door to his car for Danny.

“Chinese food,” Danny decides as he climbs into the car. “And Twizzlers.”

“Yeah, yeah, I think there’s a packet of Twizzlers still at my place.” Julian says, rolling his eyes fondly and starting the car. “I dunno how you manage to smell like warm blankets when you’re constantly shoving Twizzlers in your face.”

“And I don’t know how to manage to smell like beaches when you keep shoving burgers down your throat.” Danny quips back.

Julian huffs. “See if I buy you any food now.”

He laughs. “No, no I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. Promise.”

“Hmph, still rude to say.” Julian says, pouting.

“You accused me of shoving my face first!” He shouts, indignant, hitting the alpha on the shoulder. “Asshole.” He mumbles under his breath.

Julian laughs, warm and bright and it makes Danny smile. The rest of the car ride is filled with Julian singing loudly and slightly off key to the radio, making Danny laugh and join in with the songs he knows. He doesn’t listen to the radio that much, sue him.

 

He ends up half asleep on top of Julian on the couch, take out boxes littering the coffee table. He thinks there’s fingers running through his hair, making small trills rumble from his chest. There’s an empty bag of Twizzlers laying on the floor next to the couch and Danny’s never felt more at home.

"You staying here tonight?" Julian asks, stifling a yawn. 

"If you'll let me." Danny answers, nuzzling his head further into his chest. 

"I'll always let you." Julian says quietly. "There is a bed though that I promise is much more comfortable," 

"Carry me?" 

The alpha laughs, pushing Danny to stand from the couch. "No, come on." 

Danny grumbles under his breath, but follows Julian, eyes half open. He falls onto the bed, not bothering to strip off his sweatpants. "Soft," He mumbles, happy.

"Told you," Julian says, struggling to get the omega out of his sweats and under the covers. "C'mon, work with me here, babe," He pleads.

Danny sighs and wriggles his hips, helping the sweatpants fall from his hips. His eyes flutter shut and he reaches his hands out for Julian, pulling him down onto the bed when he manages to grab a wrist. "Sleep now." He demands softly, wrapping an arm around the alpha, clinging onto him. 

"Fucking hell, cat, octopus, you're every fucking animal." Julian jokes, letting himself get manhandled until Danny's half on top of him, head on his chest, eyes shut. He runs his fingers gently through Danny's hair.

"Mhm, no more talking." Danny slurs, more asleep than awake. His breathing steadies out and he lets the fingers in his hair lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Send me love in comments and kudos'!  
> [Come talk to me!](http://exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com/)


	4. Heat of the Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another unexpected update! 5900 words of porn. That's it.
> 
> This was gonna go up Sunday, BUT the Dallas Stars lost and me and [amenbrola](http://amenbrola.tumblr.com/) were very upset, so I thought this would be a cheer up.
> 
> ALSO note that the TAGS have been updated. Especially the 'knotting' tag. I asked a few people if I should keep the scene in the chapter and decided, yes. If you don't know what knotting is, google it, and if that's not your thing, the entire bathtub scene? Don't read that. It's marked where to skip and stop, so, you're good.

When Julian almost snaps at Tom for offering him a ride home after practice, Danny starts to suspect that his heat is coming sooner rather than later. He hopes against hope that his heat will wait until after the Monday night game, but well, his luck has never been all that good.

 

They take him out of the game in the third quarter, after he almost mishandles a punt. He’s relieved more than anything, can already feel his heat start to slowly burn through him, knows almost everyone on the team can smell him, but he still fights the guards who escort him back to the hotel.

He can’t remember changing out of his uniform, or arriving at the hotel, but the next thing he knows, he’s locked in his hotel room, weakly banging on the door. He needs to get out, needs to get to _Julian_. He’s whining, high in his throat, hoping the guards standing outside his door might take pity on him.

They don’t, and Danny lets out a whimper. The heat’s starting to worsen, and he can feel himself start to leak, making his sweatpants stick slightly to his legs. He leans his forehead against the door, sweaty and wanting an alpha - _his_ alpha. He whines again, thinking about Julian, and he lets his head thud against the door, shutting his eyes.

\-----

Julian watches as Danny gets escorted to the locker room. He frowns when the omega fights back against the betas holding him, and he feels the need to go protect him.

He goes over to the sideline, ignoring Tom yelling his name from the field.

“Where are they taking him?” He asks the first person in front of him, which happens to the the offensive coordinator, an alpha named Josh.

“Hey, calm down. They’re taking him back to the hotel,” Josh explains, holding Julian back.

He makes a sound in the back of his throat. “I need to go with him. It’s my fault,”

“You can’t. There’s still another quarter left. You can’t just leave the game.”

“No, no, I need to. He needs me,” He protests.

“The _team_ needs you. We’ve just lost one receiver, we can’t afford to lose another one.” Josh says. “You can go see him afterwards. He’ll be safe.”

Julian growls at Josh, clenching his jaw, but the other alpha meets his glare. He huffs, breaking the eye contact, and heading back to the field. He doesn’t know how much help he’s going to be anymore. He feels twitchy, and wants to be able to just _leave_.

Tom sits next to him on the bench after a touchdown drive. “What’s wrong?”

“Danny’s in heat and they won’t let me leave to go to him.” He answers.

“He’s in heat?” Tom asks, surprised. “Thought he’d had another week at least.”

Julian nods. “Yeah,”

“Well, if you can’t go see him now, at least make sure you can tell him we won the game.”

He nods again. “Yeah, yeah,” He knows they're not gonna win this shit show of a game, and he shakes his head, clearing some of the fog. “I’m good. Sorry.” He apologizes, watching the defense hold for once, and he puts his helmet on to return the punt.

He’ll be fine, he only has to survive another quarter. He just hopes Danny will be okay.

\-----

Danny’s face down on the bed, three fingers buried  inside himself, sheets long passed ruined. He whimpers, frustrated tears gathering in his eyes because he’s so hard it hurts, Julian’s still not here, and he can’t fucking _come_.

He’s not sure how much time passes while he’s like that, but he can vaguely hear voices coming from outside the room.

“What do you mean no one’s allowed in there?” It’s _Julian_ , and he stumbles out of the bed, uncaring that he’s naked.

He reaches for the handle, whining when he realizes it’s locked. “Jul...ian?” He slurs.

“See? He’s saying my name. Let me in,”

“Yeah, let him in,” He crows through the door.

“We’re under strict orders to not let anyone in or out, for obvious reasons.” He hears one of the guards say.

Julian scoffs. “Yeah, I _saw_ the reporters down there. But it’s _me_ , I’m _dating him_ , he wants me in there!”

He whines again, getting louder when he hears the alpha growl in response. “Julian, please,” There’s a minute of silence and Danny whimpers, thinking Julian left. He doesn’t expect the door open, or to see Julian walking in and quickly shutting and locking the door. “What happened?” He asks.

“I just...um, I uh…” Julian stammers. “You’re, um…” He gestures with his hand.

The fog Danny’s been fighting through, starts to creep back, and he blinks hard. “I, uh...heat, yeah, you...I told you,”

“Yeah, you did. Sorry, um,” He shakes his head. “Let me get you back to the bed,”

Danny feels himself being lifted up and he moans, _finally_ wrapping his arms around the alpha.

“They wouldn’t let me leave until the game finished,” Julian says, dumping the omega on the bed and stripping his own clothes off.

“Did you win?” He asks as Julian drapes himself over him.

Julian groans and he can almost feel the frustration coming off of the alpha. “No. I...don’t want to talk about it. You’ll hear about it after.”

He can see Julian’s jaw clench, so he latches his mouth onto the underside of it. “Been waiting for you,” He murmurs, lifting his hips up and dragging his hard cock over the alpha’s stomach.

Julian relaxes and smiles. “Sorry,” He says fondly. “But I’m here now, yeah?”

Danny lets his head fall back, looking up at him through half lidded eyes. “Took too long,” He murmurs

Julian hums, settling himself between his legs, slowly pushing two fingers into him. “You seemed to be doing just fine without me,”

The omega’s breath hitches and he grinds his hips back onto the fingers, gasping when they catch on his prostate. “Come _on_ ,” He whines, arching his hips.

Julian tsks. “Pushy, pushy,” He pulls his fingers out, stretching up to kiss him, all teeth and tongue, probably able to taste the desperation on the other. “It’s okay,” He says when Danny lets out a distressed whimper. “I’ll take care of you.”

Danny mewls happily. “Please,” He threads his hands into Julian’s hair, pulling him down to kiss him again. “Please, Jules,”

“I got you,” The alpha says against Danny’s lips, trailing his hand lightly down his side, sinking two fingers back into him. “You’re so wet,” He groans, crooking his fingers. “I don’t even need to prep you, huh,”

He gasps wetly, clutching at Julian’s hair. He whines when Julian pulls his fingers out and straddles his hips, pinning him to the bed. His hands are taken out of the other’s hair and placed above his head.

“Hey, hey, calm down.” Julian growls, and Danny whimpers, tilting his head back submissively, exposing his neck. “Good boy,” He purrs, making the omega flush at the praise. “Keep your hands here,” He orders.

Danny grips onto the headboard, watching as Julian slides back between his legs, spreading them. Any other time, he’d probably be self conscious, but all he feels now is the need to be _filled_. He whimpers when Julian ghosts a hand over his cock.

“Poor baby,” He coos. “You haven’t even come yet, have you,”

Danny shakes his head. “Please,” Julian tightens his fingers on Danny’s cock, stroking it firmly. He whines high in his throat, thrashing his head back and forth. “Please,” He pants again. “Please…”

“You can.” Julian says. “Come on,” He encourages as Danny’s whole body arches. “Come for me.”

He shudders and gasps, eyes squeezed shut, as he comes, a cry getting torn from his chest. Julian works him through it, milking his cock until he starts to squirm, oversensitive. He wants to push Julian’s hands away, but remembers the order he was given and white knuckles the headboard.

“Better?” Julian asks, hand ghosting over Danny’s barely softening cock.

He nods. It hurts so _good_ and he doesn’t know if he wants to push into it or away. “Little bit, need more.”

“Whataya need?” The alpha asks, releasing Danny’s cock and softly stroking his thigh.

He groans. “Need _you_ ,”

Julian smirks. “You have me.” Danny glares at him, lifting a foot to kick him. Julian easily catches his ankle, squeezing it in warning. “Behave.”

Danny whimpers. It’s extremely unfair how Julian seems so unaffected by all this while he feels like he’s drowning. His face burns as he says, “Please...f - fuck me.”

“Mmm, good boy,” Julian lets his ankle drop back to the bed. “You’re probably gonna wanna turn over.”

He nods, moving onto his hands and knees, mewling when a hand threads through his hair, pushing him down to his shoulders. His hands are guided back up so he can grab onto the headboard.

“Remember what I said about moving these,” Julian whispers against Danny’s temple, earning a shudder. He straightens up, kneeling behind the omega. He rubs the head of his cock against Danny’s slick hole and groans. “I could just slide right in.”

“Yeah,” Danny whimpers, agreeing. He whines when he’s ignored. “Please? Jules?”

“You know, desperate’s a good look on you,” Julian comments. He leans over Danny to whisper, “But I bet you’ll look better writhing on my cock,”

“Fuck, Jules,” Danny curses. “Need…” The rest of his sentence trails off with a shout as Julian slowly pushes his cock into his wet heat. He gasps, eyes fluttering shut as he’s finally filled by his alpha.

“You’re so tight, goddamn.” Julian growls out, his hands gripping tight on Danny’s hips, finger shaped bruises guaranteed.

Danny can feel Julian’s frustration in every snap of his hips and he pushes his hips back, trying and failing to match the ruthless pace. His cock hardens between his legs and in his heat fogged state of mind, he tries to reach a hand down to find relief. He yelps when Julian uses one hand to grab both of his, bringing them behind him and pinning them onto his lower back.

“ _No_ ,” The alpha growls, causing Danny to whine and shudder.

“Sorry, ‘m sorry.” He whimpers, eyes shut, gasping when Julian’s cock bumps his prostate.

Julian chuckles, thrusting hard and deep. “I know you are, sweetheart,” A hand pushes through Danny’s hair, and his eyes water when it grips painfully at the roots. “Your first time going through a heat with an alpha, you’ll learn.”

Danny chokes on his next breath at the dark promise behind Julian’s words. “Yes, yes, ah, ‘m sorry, alpha. _Please_ _just -_ ” His plea breaks off into a ragged gasp.

“Please what?” Julian asks, never breaking the rhythm his hips have set. “Please fuck you harder? Please let you come?” He chuckles darkly. “Gotta be more specific, babe,”

He doesn’t answer, tears forming in the corner of his eyes, breath getting forced out of his lungs with each thrust. “Pl - _fuck_ ,”

Julian’s hips stop moving, cock buried in Danny. “What was that?” When all he gets is a watery whine, he says, “Until you tell me what you want, we’re gonna stay just like this.”

Danny bites his lip, wincing when the hand in his hair tightens and pulls further. “Jules, please...please fuck me,”

“ _Just_ fuck you?” Julian asks, grinding his hips in a circle.

He keens, gathered tears spilling over his cheeks. “Please fuck me and m - make me c - _come_ ,” He manages to gasp out.

Julian pulls his hips back and snaps them back forward sharply. “Good boy. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“N - no,” His hands clench down into fists on his back as the pace picks up, cock hitting his oversensitive prostate. “Gotta come. _Please_ let me c - come,” He begs, straining against the hold on his hands.

“You’re gonna come just from this.” Julian promises, fingernails scratching against Danny’s scalp.

Danny sobs and tries to shake his head against the bed. “C - _can’t_ , Jules. S - sorry.”

“Yes you can. Don’t you wanna be a good omega for me?” Julian drapes his body over Danny’s back, whispering into his ear, “C’mon. Come for your alpha.” He orders, alpha growl leaking into his voice.

Danny’s whole body is shaking, practically vibrating out of his skin. “I c - _can’t_ ,” He sobs. “Sorry, ‘m sorry,” He doesn’t really know what he’s apologizing for, just that he wants to be _good_ for his alpha.

Julian slows his hips down again. “I know you wanna be good for me.”

He’s nodding, because he _does_ , and he’s begging under his breath for Julian to _please let him come_. He can’t fucking think past the heat that’s suffocating him, eyelashes wet and clumped together. He shouts when he feels the hand in his hair slide down to grip the back of his neck.

“If you come,” Julian starts, tone sickly sweet. “Then I’ll fill you up,” He starts moving his hips, thrusting slow and deep, making Danny _wail_. “Don’t you want me to fill you up?”

Danny squeezes his eyes shut, more tears spilling over his cheeks, because _yes_ , he does want to be filled - wants to _obey_ more than anything. “Yes.” He whimpers out in a small voice.

Julian leans down to whisper in Danny’s ear. He squeezes the base of the omega’s neck, growling, “Then fucking come for me,”

And _jesus christ he does_ , untouched and wailing with his eyes screwed tight. He’s pretty sure he blacks out for a few seconds, shuddering through the orgasm that gets fucking _torn_ from him. His chest is heaving and he can’t seem to get enough air to fill his lungs, breath getting punched out as Julian keeps fucking into him.

“Good boy,” Julian coos, making Danny’s chest swell at the praise. “You’re so good for me.”

Sound is still being forced out of Danny and he gasps, starting to feel too much. “C’mon , you - you _promised_ ,” His hips twitch in an attempt to get away from the overwhelming feeling.

Julian straightens back up, hands grabbing onto Danny’s hips, pulling him back when he tries to inch forward and away. “I did, didn’t I,” He seems to consider it, and Danny’s choking on his breath, eyes rolling back into his head and he’s going to _die_ \- “You’re such a good boy,” Julian whispers.

Danny nods, because he _is_ , and then Julian’s hips are pressed hard against his and the alpha’s growling and hunched over him. “Yo - you should knot me.” He slurs, eyes fluttering.

“Not this time, babe,” Julian answers, pulling his softening cock out of Danny, the omega flushing more (if possible) at the come that drips down his thigh.

He falls onto his side, facing Julian. “Why not?” He whines.

“Because,” Julian says, running a hand through Danny’s hair and pulling him close despite the come, slick and sweat coating both of them. “I want you a little more coherent for it,”

Danny pouts, pressing small kisses to Julian’s chest and neck. “But I _need_ it. Feel so empty.”

“I know,” Julian catches Danny’s lips with his own, cutting off whatever protest the omega tried to say. “Rest now. You’re gonna need it.”

He nods, trying to press closer to Julian. He feels like he’s being cradled on soft ocean waves and soon his eyes are fluttering shut and his breathing steadies out.

\-----(WARNING)

A spike of heat jolting through Danny’s stomach wakes him up and he whines before even fully opening his eyes. He whines, shifting closer to the warm body that’s laying behind him.

There’s a rustling and then, “Oh, you enjoy your nap?” Julian asks, sounding groggy.

He whines again and wriggles so he’s facing the alpha, pressing desperate kisses to Julian’s jaw and neck. “Please,” He begs. “‘M hot,”

Julian chuckles, and rolls out of the bed. Danny whines, struggling to follow him off the bed. “Hey, no,” Julian reassures, catching him before his legs give out. “Shower?” A whine gets pulled from Danny’s throat and he shakes his head. 

“No.” Danny whimpers.

“C’mon, we both need one,” Julian protests, half dragging, half carrying Danny to the bathroom.

And Danny doesn’t know _why_ Julian thinks they need to shower, their scents are rubbed all over each other, and all he can think is that the alpha doesn’t want his scent on him anymore and it makes his chest tighten.

He watches as Julian turns on the shower, the room steam up, and he launches himself at the alpha, wrapping his arms around him.

“Don’t wanna.” He whimpers pitifully, whining high in his throat in distress.

Julian catches him, almost falling, but managing to not smash his head on the sink. “What’s wrong?”

Danny just shakes his head. “Scents,”

“Scents?” Julian asks confused. Danny nods and Julian’s eyes widen in understanding. “Oh, you think I want to get rid of our scents. No, no, that’s not it at all,” He explains. “You want to take a bath instead?”

“What’s the difference?” Danny whimpers, eyes starting to tear up.

“A bath will wash away less of our scent,” He says gently. “It’ll also probably help with that light heat fever you got going on,”

Danny furrows his brows, but relents, nodding, and lets go of Julian long enough for him to turn on the tap and start filling the tub with steaming water. He attaches himself back to the alpha, rutting his half hard cock against Julian’s hip.

“Are you gonna make me carry you to the tub?” Julian asks with a raised eyebrow. “Or are you gonna be good for me?” He gets his answer when Danny just tightens his arms around him, biting down on his shoulder.

“Hurts,” Danny whimpers. “Bed,”

Julian scoffs, somehow managing to get them both in the tub with Danny draped over his shoulders, and if Danny was feeling hot before, he’s _burning_ now, the hot water feeling scalding. He thrashes in the hold Julian has on him, trying to get out of the water that has to be eating away at his skin.

“Hey, hey, _stop it_ ,” Julian hisses, tightening his hold around the omega and keeping him in his lap.

Danny whines, trying to dislodge the arms around his waist, only relaxing once Julian gets a hand on his dick, which hasn’t softened at all, something that Danny would be embarrassed about in any other situation.

Julian strokes the omega’s cock softly. “You get so obedient when you get someone’s hand on your dick, huh,” He coos, resting his chin on Danny’s shoulder. “You’re so pretty, you know that? Look so good when you’re hard and desperate for me,” He tightens his grip, swiping his thumb on the head on every upstroke. “Maybe I should just keep you like this all the time, huh?”

Danny whimpers, shaking his head. “No, ‘m sorry, wanna be good,” He squirms, letting his head fall back against the alpha’s shoulder, mouth slack. “Want you to fuck me,”

“Yeah? How bad do you want it, babe?” Julian asks, kissing Danny’s neck.

Danny groans, shifting his hips to get more friction, hoping to try and convince Julian that he’s been _good_. “Really bad, I’ll be so good for you,” He promises.

“You’ll be,” Julian hums, considering, and then, “Turn around for me,” He helps Danny shift in his lap so they’re facing each other. “Need any prep?”

He shakes his head desperately. “No, no, ‘m good. Just _get in me_ ,” He means it to sound like a command, but it comes out a breathless plea instead.

Julian lines his cock up with Danny’s entrance which is already dripping in anticipation, desperate to be filled. The brunette sinks onto his cock, moaning when he’s seated fully on him, hands grabbing onto Julian’s shoulders.

“Fuck, I just fucked you three hours ago and you’re still so goddamned tight,” Julian grunts. He rakes his nails down Danny’s side.

Danny’s legs are shaking as he works himself on the alpha’s cock. It rubs across his prostate every time he sinks down, making his cock twitch and a whimper to get punched out of his throat. “You gonna knot me?”

“I told you: not tonight,”

He makes a pathetic noise in his throat. “But it would feel so good, I would milk your knot so good, bet it’d feel amazing,” Danny tempts.

Julian growls, snapping his hips up, making Danny yelp, water sloshing over the side of the tub. “You want my knot?”

Danny nods, burying his head in Julian’s neck, trying to stifle the sobs coming from his throat. “Yes, _ah_ , yes _please_ ,” He can feel Julian’s cock swell at the base, knot threatening to fill him. He’s mumbling _please_ under his breath, forgetting about his hard cock bouncing against his stomach.

“What if it’s too big for you?” Julian taunts, grinding his hips in a circle, knot kissing at Danny’s wet hole.

“Don’t care,” Danny chokes out. “What it - _want you_. I can take it,” He pushes his hips down to try and get the knot to enter him.

And the thing is, Danny doesn’t really know what he’s asking for, knows what he _wants_ , but once Julian starts working his knot it, he realizes that it’s _big_ , bigger than he thought. The stretch hurts in the best way possible and Danny doesn’t know if he should try and get away from it or push into. He decides on the latter, tears falling over his flushed cheeks as the knot locks them together; alpha and omega.

“How’s it feel, baby?” Julian asks, sounding just a bit strained.

“G - _good_ ,” He chokes out, breath hitching in his throat. “So big,” He squeezes his eyes shut, more tears spilling from his eyes, when Julian gets a hand around his cock, stroking him quickly, almost too harshly. He’s riding right on the edge of his orgasm, toes curling under the water, jaw clenched so tight it hurts, just adding another layer of sensation over everything else.

He thinks he screams when he finally comes, vision whiting out, clenching down hard against Julian’s cock. The alpha keeps stroking him right through his orgasm, not letting up, not even when Danny’s started squirming for a whole different reason. The squirming doesn’t do anything except shift the knot locked in him until he’s hard again, crying and coming again, whimpering and clawing at Julian’s back.

“Think you got one more in ya?” Julian asks, brushing his fingers up Danny’s half hard cock.

Danny’s brain short circuits. “No more,” He whispers out, pressing soft kisses onto Julian’s neck and shoulder to try and please him. “Please,”

Julian mock pouts, using his other hand to feel around where he’s locked inside the omega. “You’re so tight, I barely fit inside you. Is this what you wanted?” He pulls Danny’s head up to kiss him, scraping his teeth against his lower lip.

Danny doesn’t answer - _can’t_ answer, can only sit boneless in Julian’s lap, weakly trying to kiss the blonde back. His hand is grabbing onto Julian’s wrist, trying to move the hand away from his cock because it’s _too much and it hurts_.

Julian manages to wring one more orgasm out of him, Danny not having any energy to even cry out when he comes, just shudders and sobs through it, clinging onto Julian like he’s only thing tethering him to reality, which is probably true.

He lays limp in Julian’s lap until the water goes cold and Julian’s knot goes back down. He gets carried out of the tub and bundled up in a fluffy white towel with Julian whispering soft praises to him.

“You were such a good boy,” Julian says softly, using a towel to dry off the omega’s hair. “How I’d end up so lucky to have an omega like you,”

Danny just giggles, letting Julian take care of him and usher him to the bed. One of the sheets have been removed and is laying in a pile on the floor. Danny vaguely wonders when Julian managed to do that, but then he’s being laid down on the somewhat clean bed that smells like warm blankets and ocean waves and everything is alright.

Julian lays down next to him, letting Danny crawl until he’s practically on top of the alpha. He still feels too hot, but the fever seems to have broken, and he feels a hand thread through his hair, resting at the back of his neck.

“Sleep.” Is the command that breaks through the haze of fog in his brain, and he’s following the command, eyes closing before his brain fully registers the command.

\-----(END WARNING)

On Thursday morning, hopefully the last day of Danny’s heat, he’s informed that the team’s decided he was over the worst of his heat and that they’re leaving that afternoon.

He doesn’t want to move, lest get on an airplane for three and a half hours, so he doesn’t particularly try very hard to move at Julian’s command, the heavy fog that’s been in his head for the past couple of days faded considerably.

“C’mon, ‘Dola, you gotta get up,” Julian says, running a gentle hand through the omega’s hair.

Danny groans and turns his head away into a pillow. “Don’t wanna,” He mumbles.

“There’s a plane waiting to take us back to Boston,” Julian argues quietly

He squints his eyes open and sees Julian already dressed, both bags seem to be packed as well. “It’s too early,” He complains, closing his eyes again.

“It’s like, noon, babe,” The alpha points out, scratching Danny’s scalp gently before standing and tugging the cover off of him. He whines, hands scrabbling down to try and grab the covers back. “No,” Julian says, stern. “You have to get dressed.”

Danny whines again. “Jules, don’t want to,”

He hears Julian sigh before there’s a hand running through his hair before gripping it at the nape of his neck. “Up.” He commands.

Danny feels himself melt into the touch, body reacting to the command before he even realizes it, the hazy fog making it hard to concentrate. He struggles to sit up, blinking groggily, eyes staying half lidded.

“Now, come on, gotta get you dressed.” Julian says, leading him up and off the bed, keeping his hand on the his neck, keeping the omega pliant.

Danny’s knees threaten to buckle when he stands and he practically falls into Julian, the latter catching him around his waist. “Sorry,” He slurs, hands grabbing onto Julian’s biceps to steady himself.

“Hey, you’re alright.” Julian says, setting him so he’s sitting on the bed. “Let’s get you into some clothes, yeah?”

Danny nods sluggishly. “Yes. Clothes,”

“What’s this?” Julian asks and Danny thinks he can hear a bit of amusement in his voice.

“What’s what?” He turns his head to look at what the alpha’s holding and his face turns bright red. “Oh. That. Um...you know...just in case…” He shrugs. “Besides, it was a gag gift from a friend,”

Julian chuckles, pressing a kiss to Danny’s lips that has the omega melting into him. “In case what? In case I didn’t satisfy you enough?” He asks, tapping the dark plug on Danny’s cheek.

Danny flushes harder. “No, well, like, you did so I didn’t -” He stutters, embarrassment and last bits of heat making it hard for him to concentrate.

“You sure?” Julian asks, smirking.

“Don’t, don’t we have to go catch an airplane?” Danny asks nervously.

Julian hums and trails his lips down Danny’s neck. “‘M sure we have enough time to put this to good use.”

Danny giggles, leaning into the kisses. “If...if there’s time,” He relents.

“That’s the spirit,” Julian trails his hand down his side, cupping his half hard dick. “Eager?”

He rolls his eyes. “I have a hot guy who’s gonna make me come, why wouldn’t I be eager?”

“Who said anything about making you come?” Julian asks, cocking an eyebrow.

Danny swallows thickly, heartbeat spiking. “Please?”

“We’ll see.” Julian decides, pushing the omega back onto his bed and hovering above him. “We’ll have to be quick. Ten minutes top.”

“Then hurry up.” Danny grumbles, grabbing Julian’s wrist and guiding it down past his dick to his entrance. He tacks on a “please” at the end in hopes to get Julian to go faster.

Julian chuckles and kisses him gently, tongue tangling with his. “Jesus, you’re already wet,” He groans into the kiss.

Danny whines. “Can’t help it,” He pants. “Still a little bit in heat, and _fucking hell_ -” He cuts himself off with a gasp when Julian presses the tip of the plug against his wet hole. “C’mon, please,” He pleads.

“You’re so good for me,” Julian praises, pressing the plug steadily into Danny. “Always so ready for me. Would you bend over anytime I asked you to?”

“Yes, oh my _god_ ,” He whimpers when the plug sinks into him, leaving him feeling full and out of breath.

“Yeah?” Julian coos, giving the omega’s thigh a small slap. “That feel good? You’re gonna be on a plane for three and half hours with that in you.”

Danny chokes on his next breath. “Dammit, this was a mistake, wasn’t it,” Julian laughs and takes Danny’s dick in a loose grip causing him to gasp and arch his hips up. He twists his hands in the bed sheets until his fingers cramp. “ _Fucking_ hell,”

“Should I let you come?” Julian asks casually and Danny could kill him.

“You want me smelling like heat and desperation around a bunch of other alphas?” Danny manages to hiss out, frustrated. The insolence leaves him in a sob when Julian pets his fingertips over the head of his cock. “ _Sorry_ ,” He sobs out, bucking his hips up, only for them to drop down to the bed when Julian releases his cock.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Julian says, dipping his head to kiss Danny, biting his bottom lip until it’s swollen and red. “Now be a good boy and come quickly for me.” He commands lowly, tightening his hand around his cock and using his other hand to press against the base of the plug, nudging it into Danny’s prostate.

Danny’s eyes roll back into his head, vision going white around the edges as he gets dragged over the edge, a shrill cry leaving his throat. “Thank you thank you,” He whispers as Julian works him through his orgasm.

“That take the edge off?” Julian asks, brushing the hair off Danny’s forehead.

He nods, eyelids drooping, feeling ready to go to sleep again. “Yeah,” He reaches a hand out, groping for Julian. “What about you?”

“On your knees,” Is all Julian says, slapping Danny on the thigh.

Danny slides slowly off the bed to the floor on his knees, whimpering when the plug moves inside him, bumping against his oversensitive prostate. He leans his head against Julian’s thigh, tilting his head up to plant small kisses on the alpha’s hard cock.

Julian fists one hand in Danny’s hair, pulling his head back, and strokes his dick, coming quickly onto Danny’s face, making sure none of it lands in his open mouth despite the omega’s small whimpers.

“I’d leave that on your face,” Julian starts, hand leaving his dick and stroking his fingers through the come that’s landed on Danny’s cheek and feeding it back to him. “But I don’t think you’d want that on magazines.”

“Wouldn’t care,” Danny mumbles, taking the offered fingers into his mouth. “I’m yours.” He says around the fingers.

Julian hums and feeds all the come back to him, smiling softly when Danny cleans his fingers for the last time. He tugs on the brunette’s hair to stand him up. “Gotta get you dressed now,”

He nods, tired, whimpering every now and then as the alpha dresses him in a hoodie - _Julian’s hoodie_ he realizes, and a pair of loose sweats. His eyes are fluttering close every time he blinks and he’s leaning most of his weight onto Julian.

“Can you walk on your own?” Julian asks softly, one arm wrapped around Danny’s waist.

“Yeah,” He answers, though when he goes to push off of Julian, his knees buckle and Julian grabs him before he falls onto the bed.

“So that’s a no,” He says, chuckling quietly. He manages to fish his phone out of his pocket, sending a quick text. 

Not a minute later there’s a knock on the door that has Danny flinching and leaning more into the hold Julian has on him so that the alpha has to fully pick him up bridal style. Julian opens the door to reveal Tom who takes a step back at the overwhelming scent of, no doubt, sex that’s permeating from the room.

“Fucking hell,” Tom laughs. “You two, got, uh, busy, huh,”

Julian rolls his eyes and kicks the bag over to him. “Where’s your bag?”

“You know, on the bus that’s waiting for you guys,” Tom answers, grabbing the bag. “How were your few days?” He asks as Julian leaves the hotel room. “Wait, no, I don’t want to know.” He amends quickly.

Julian laughs and Danny can feel it reverberate in his chest making him sigh softly. He tunes out most of their conversation, letting his eyes close and tucking his face into the crook of Julian’s neck.

“You sure carrying him down is a good idea?” Tom asks.

He feels Julian shrug. “He tried standing on his own before and almost fell, so carrying him is really the only option.”

“You tired him out, huh.” Tom jokes, then, asks, “What’re you gonna say to the reporters that will no doubt be crowding around the plane?”

“Nothing.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

They’re silent after that and Danny falls asleep to Julian’s steady heartbeat.

He wakes up when they’re on the bus, still cradled against the alpha’s chest. He lifts his head slightly, hair sticking up everywhere, and squints up at Julian. “Where are we?”

“At the plane, we’re about to get off the bus.” Julian answers softly, kissing his forehead. “You wanna go back to sleep?”

He shakes his head and manages to sit up, sliding out of Julian’s lap. “Don’t want you carrying me to the plane in front of reporters,” He mumbles, rubbing his eyes and trying to flatten his hair.

“Alright, will you be able to stand?” Julian asks.

Danny waves him off, looking around to see that the rest of team have given them a wide berth. “I’ll be fine, babe.”

He isn’t fine, but he isn’t bad either. He’s leaning half his weight against Julian as they walk to the plane, eyes half open, twitching from the plug still in him on every other step. Julian has a solid arm around his waist, guiding him to the plane, both ignoring the flashing of cameras going off around them.

He’s half hard in his pants and he prays in the back of his mind that the cameras don’t pick up on that. He sighs in relief when they make it onto the plane, falling heavily into a chair, whining when it jostles the plug.

“I hate you.” He hisses to Julian when he sits down. “I hate you so fucking much.”

Julian laughs. “Lies.” He lifts the arm rest separating them and lets Danny cuddle up to his side.

Danny knows there’s gonna be a shit show to deal with back in Boston when his heat fully wears off, but he pushes those thoughts away and lets the scent of warm beaches and safety lull him back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm ashamed. I'm definitely going to hell now.  
> If you can still stand to even look at me, comment and [come talk to me?](http://exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com/)


	5. Media

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4.5 really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a half chapter if anything, and kinda experimental. I have chapter 5 mostly written, but I wanted to get something up for you guys. Tell me what you think, if it works or not, that kinda stuff.

_Danny Amendola’s Triggered Heat?_

Danny Amendola had more than just a game to worry about on Sunday, he was taken out of the blowout game against Kansas City, after mishandling a punt return, and was seen getting escorted back to the team hotel. Fellow receiver, Julian Edelman seemed to be upset about Amendola leaving the game, getting into argument with the offensive coordinator. He ultimately stayed for the rest of the game, the Chiefs blowing out the Patriots 41-14.

Edelman seemingly left for the hotel immediately after the game, sources saying that he entered Amendola’s hotel room. It’s safe to assume that Amendola went through an unexpected heat, but quarterback, Tom Brady, answered the question with, “You didn’t manage to get him for a comment?”. Of course, we’ve seen this kind of vagueness from the Patriots before and we don’t think we’ll be getting a clear answer from anyone.

On Wednesday morning, the team was seen leaving Kansas City, no doubt waiting for Amendola’s heat to blow over. He seemed to be tired and out of it, Edelman supporting most of Amendola’s weight on their way to the plane, only adding more evidence that the receivers did indeed spend the heat together.

Is this an NFL romance budding, or just an omega causing more problems within the NFL?

Follow us for more NFL updates!

  
  


_ Danny Amendola’s Heat Gets Triggered, Sparks Controversy _

New England Patriots’ wide receiver, Danny Amendola, went through an unexpected heat, presumably triggered by all the alphas that surround him on a daily basis. Julian Edelman seemed to be the alpha that spent the heat with him, being seen entering Amendola’s hotel room and not leaving for three days until the team was on their way back to Boston.

Is Amendola’s heat the reason why the Patriots got blown out on MNF? Tom Brady gave a comment after landing back in Boston. “He’s a great player and a great teammate to have. I’m looking forward to building more chemistry with him on the field.”

Tight end, Rob Gronkowski was equally as vague when he commented, “The team needs to play better, and we’re looking toward the next game.” 

Bill Belichick refused to comment on the issue and we haven’t gotten the chance to talk to neither Edelman or Amendola.

  
  


_ Danny Amendola Giving More Reason To Only Allow Alphas and Betas In The NFL _

 

As if the NFL needed more issues to deal with, New England Patriots’ receiver, Danny Amendola, just gave the League another reason to ban omega’s from the NFL for good. 

If you didn’t know, Amendola left for the second half of the game in Baltimore. Rumors have it that he left due to a triggered heat and if it’s true, then it’s just another reason why the League should get rid of omegas. Alphas already have enough trouble trying to deal with the cheerleaders that are omegas, why should it carry out to the field as well?

If his gets a heat triggered - a heat that  he  didn’t even seem to know about - how can anyone assume that this won’t happen again? We can’t. Belichick should take him out now until he knows his heats are under control.

  
  


**Danny Amendola Releases Official Statement**

Earlier this week, Danny Amendola released a statement regarding his disappearance during the game on Monday night.

“I went into heat, I wouldn’t have if I was on suppressants, but the league’s banned them. There wasn’t really anything I could do, and the whole team was supportive of what was going on.” 

While he didn’t say if he spend the heat with Edelman, or if his heat was triggered and not a planned one, he confirmed that yes, he did go through a heat while on the road in Kansas City. Did this lead to the blowout against the Chiefs? And should the league be banning omegas from joining the NFL? Or should the league lift the ban on heat suppressants?

  
  


**Tom Brady’s Press Conference Transcript:**

Quarterback, Tom Brady, held a press conference on Thursday, following the blowout against Kansas City and the apparent heat his teammate went through.

 

**Q: How do you recover from a game like this?  
** We’ll learn from it, it was a bad performance all around. We all have to figure out ways to do better and make sure it never happens again. We have to get ahead of good teams and play from ahead. You can’t get behind on good teams on the road. 

**Q: What’s your opinion on Danny going through an unexpected heat?  
** It’s like a injury, we weren’t expecting it, but he’s back and healthy now, so we’re excited.

**Q: How did you handle the news of coming out of the game?  
** They told me I was coming out of the game, so. 

**Q: Did Julian and Danny spend the heat together?  
** I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them that, I guess.

******Q: Is Danny’s heat the reason you guys were blown out?** **  
** No, not at all. We all have to do better, trust each other to make plays.

**Q: What happened with the interception that was returned for a touchdown?  
** I threw the ball, and I shouldn’t have. 

**Q: What do you feel like you have to do to help the offense get better?**  
Just be the best quarterback I could be. I think that's what my job is, and my responsibility as a player is to do whatever the coaches ask me and do it the best way  I can. That's trying to do everything well on a consistent basis - be a good leader, obviously make the plays when they're there, have great command and understand of what we're doing, try to put our team in the best position to win.  
  


_ Death Of a Dynasty? _

The Patriots suffered their worst loss in the last three seasons against the Kansas City Chiefs. A couple picks thrown by Tom Brady and bad defensive coaches has people wondering if the Patriots should bench Brady for good. Backup, Jimmy Garoppolo started after Brady threw his second pick and managed to move the ball down the field. It seems that this is what the future may look like, especially since Brady is refusing to put any blame on Danny Amendola’s unexpected heat. 

The Patriots have never looked this incompetent in the Brady-Belichick era. Is it safe to say that the Patriots Dynasty has died at Arrowhead stadium?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for your feedback!


	6. Hit the Switch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is late, that's my bad. I've been flailing over Captain America: Civil War, 'cause my HEART. But enjoy!

Management tells Danny that he can miss the game on Sunday against Cincinnati if he wants and it’s something that he considers because he’s still pretty sore and he hasn’t really moved all that much since he got back. His body is definitely telling him that he should rest up, but all he can see when he closes his eyes are the articles telling him he should be benched and goddammit, he wants -  _ needs  _ to prove all of them wrong. 

Rob texts him a string of eggplant emojis that make him laugh in confused amusement. Julian says that Rob still hasn’t figured out what they are or how to use them, so Danny texts back his own string of pineapples and laughs again when he gets a smiley face back.

Tom calls him and tells him that if he wants to play, he can and if he doesn’t, he won’t have to deal with the reporters because  _ ‘those guys are vultures, i got you covered’ _ .

Even Tyler Seguin sends him a text reading  _ ‘spend your heat with jules? ;) Don’t stress too much, it’ll blow over. Call if u ever need to talk’,  _ it’s quickly followed up by a  _ ‘also jamie says hi and to not worry’ _ . He laughs and sends back a quick  _ ‘hey, thanks. It means a lot, I’ll call if I ever need to’ _ .

And he’s happy and  _ safe, _ he’s with a team who’s got his back and he’s dating an alpha who  _ likes him _ , an alpha who’s currently messing around in his kitchen trying to make god knows what.

He stretches, groaning when some of his joints crack, and wanders into his kitchen, plastering himself against Julian’s back, hooking his chin on his shoulder.

“Whatcha making?” He asks, a little wary.

“Um...pasta?” Julian says, huffing when he fails to hold back a small laugh.

“How’d you manage to overcook pasta?” He asks, smiling. The pasta looks...well, sad; floating limp and gooey in the hot water. “Stick to the grill, babe.” He looks to the other pot on the stove that’s filled with bubbling red sauce. “Well, the sauce looks okay,”

Julian huffs and grumbles, “Trying to be a good alpha and provide for you and all that.”

“You don’t need to,” Danny assures him, pointedly ignoring the way his wolf whines happily. He laughs, pushing Julian out of the way to get at the pot. “Seriously, what did you  _ do  _ to this?” He asks, staring in wonder at the limp noodles swimming sadly. “I didn’t even know you could fuck pasta up this much,”

“Fuck off, it’s not that bad,” Julian protests. He watches as Danny dumps the pot out, refilling it and then placing it back on the stove. “You should see how Seggy cooks,”

Danny hums and rummages in his cupboards for another box of pasta. “Bet he’d be able to make pasta,” He teases, bumping shoulders with Julian when he passes him. “You know you’re supposed to stir it, right?”

Julian rolls his eyes. “Don’t even,” He starts. “My brain’s still getting its higher functions going,”

“ _ Your  _ brain’s still unfogging?” Danny scoffs. “ _ I’m  _ the one who went through the heat.”

“And who helped you with your heat, hm?” Julian teases. “You were insatiable, took away some brain functions.”

Danny rolls his eyes, the back of his neck flushing, and dumps the pasta into the boiling water, stirring it. “I seem to recall you being able to string sentences together.” He nods pointedly to the pot of pasta. “See? Stirring.”

“I hate you. See if I help you with your heat again.”

“Uh huh. Hey, can you grab the drainer?”

Julian grumbles something under his breath, but grabs the drainer and places it in the sink. “Who even makes pasta?”

“Literally everyone ever. Fucking move, asshole,” Danny nudges at Julian, moving to the sink to drain the pasta.

Julian hums. “How’ve you been doing?” He asks suddenly. He’s leaning against the counter next to the sink, looking at Danny with concerned eyes.

He shrugs. “Okay. I mean, apart from the media, but eh,”

The alpha nods. “Are you gonna play Sunday?”

He shrugs again, slower this time. “Maybe...I haven't decided yet. I wanna see how I’m feeling later,”

“Physically or…?”

“Yeah.” He answers, clipped. “Hey, can you grab some plates?” He asks, changing the subject. 

Julian pauses, sighs, then pushes off the counter. He sets the plates next to Danny and pushes a hand through his hair. “I just care about you.”

Danny bites the inside of his cheek and doesn’t answer. He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, so he silently serves the pasta and tugs Julian back over to the couch to eat it. The uncomfortable silence lingers for a few more minutes until Julian bends down to press a soft kiss in Danny’s hair and then he’s leaning against the alpha, smiling again.

\-----

Sunday comes and Danny finds himself sitting on the bench in uniform, but sitting out for the game. He explains to Tom and the couch that he’s still a little sore with a blush painting his cheeks and they both assure him that it’s fine.

He enjoys watching his team battle it out and bury the Bengals and when the game is over, he’s sure that everyone realizes that the Patriots Dynasty isn’t going anywhere. He sneaks back to the locker room before the game finishes, hoping to change and avoid all the media he can, but there’s a few reporters that seemed to have the same idea and their faces light up when they see him.

He recognizes one of the reporters as the woman who asked about his and Julian’s relationship and he bristles when she comes up to him, asking, “So, you and Julian, are you guys a couple?”

He sighs and rubs a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t matter, you’ll write something different anyway.” He answers, suddenly feeling exhausted even though he didn’t play.

The reporter frowns. “Well you guys were seen leaving the hotel together looking pretty cozy with one another.” She still has a smile on her face, but Danny can tell that it’s fake.

“Yep.” He goes to push past her, but she steps in front of him, stopping him.

“It must be hard to have a teammate who goes into unexpected heats.” She says with narrowed eyes.

There’s a seed of irritation in his chest and he clenches his jaw. He wants to shout at her, but instead says, “You’ll have to ask him that.” He pushes past her into the locker room.

He doesn’t expect her to actually as Julian the same question, but, hey, he’s been wrong before, and when he’s standing next to Julian’s locker, listening to him give his post game interview, he hears the woman ask the  _ same fucking question _ and Danny’s just fucking  _ done _ .

He goes to chew her out, but Julian beats him to it. “Can’t you guys just ask something different for one goddamn second? We’re football players, you’re here to ask us about the  _ game _ , not about whatever it is we get up to in our private lives. You, in particular, have you actually asked a question about football yet?”

The reporter seems too shocked to answer and Danny catches the alpha’s eyes from over one of the reporter’s shoulders, smiling softly to try and calm him down a little.

He seems to, because he tips his chin down in a nod and then he’s turning back to the reporter who’s asking another question. “So...does that mean you guys  _ did  _ spend the weekend together?”

Julian rolls his eyes and huffs out an annoyed breath. “You guys are all vultures.” He pushes through the gaggle of reporters, grabbing Danny’s hand and tugging him out of the locker room. “Hope you have fun writing your stories.”

They’re both laughing as they jog to Julian’s car and Danny kind of feels like he’s in one of those shitty romance movies his mom used to watch.

Julian pushes him up against the car, pulling him in for another kiss, this one sweet, only meant for the two of them. It makes the irritation he felt earlier bloom into a warmth that has him smiling into the kiss.

“Thank you,” He says when Julian pulls back. “For...you know.”

“Of course. You sure you’re alright with me saying we’re in a relationship?” Julian asks.

Danny nods. “I did try to convey that and you seemed to get the message, so yeah.” He chuckles. “We’re gonna be in so much shit later.”

Julian smiles and presses another lingering kiss to the omega’s lips. “We’ll deal with it when it gets here.”

“Alright.” He agrees, pushing Julian back to get in the car. “Did you shower yet?”

“Thought showering at home might be better,” Julian says, winking overdramatically at Danny who rolls his eyes.

“Oh, thought I’d just hop right into the shower with you, huh?” He teases sarcastically.

“Well, I was hoping…”

“At least buy me dinner first.” He says, acting scandalized.

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah, you wish.”

\---

As promised, Tom dealt with the reporters that talked to him about Danny, though he did falter slightly when one reporter told him what Julian had said. He recovered quickly and hid a laugh behind a cough. 

Danny laughs as he watches the interview, a pair of Julian’s sweatpants hanging low on his hips, damp hair sticking to his forehead slightly.

“Whatcha laughing at?” Julian asks, coming up behind him in sweats and towel drying his hair.

“Tom’s post game interview.” He plants a quick kiss to Julian’s cheek and makes a face. “You gotta shave, babe.”

Julian gasps in mock hurt. “Are you saying you don’t like my facial hair?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m not letting you eat me out unless you do,” He tempts.

The alpha groans behind him, arms wrapping around his waist. “But I really want to.”

Danny laughs. “Than shave, dumbass.” He shivers when Julian kisses at the nape of his neck. He moves away before he can melt into it. “Or at least just trim it.”

“Fine. Just for you.” Julian says, pressing one more kiss against Danny’s neck before walking past him. “I’m ordering food.”

“I hope you are, god forbid you try and cook something.” He laughs when he hears Julian curse back at him. He sends a text to Tom.

 

**To: Tommy**

**Saw your interview, thanks**

 

**From: Tommy**

**No problem. You doing alright? I heard what jules said**

 

He sighs a little and looks down the hallway to where Julian is. 

 

**To: Tommy**

**Yeah, I appreciated it**

 

**From: Tommy**

**But…?**

 

**To Tommy:**

**Sometimes I feel like we’re moving too fast? Idk, it’s stupid. Nvm**

 

**From Tommy:**

**Alright, if you wanna talk, i’m here**

 

**To Tommy:**

**Thanks**

 

He locks his phone and tugs on a shirt before making his way to Julian and draping himself over the alpha’s back as he’s talking on the phone. He lets out a little trill that gets a smile out of Julian.

“Quiet, I’m ordering your food,” Julian whispers, laughing.

Danny rolls his eyes but unwraps himself from Julian and deposits himself on the couch, laying sideways on it. He watches Julian pace as he talks on the phone and then he’s walking over to the couch and lifting his legs before sitting on the couch and dropping them onto his lap.

“You doing okay?” Julian asks, rubbing small circles onto his ankle.

He nods and stifles a yawn. “Yeah, ‘m just tired.”

Julian smirks. “What, did I tire you out in the shower?”

“Oh, totally,” He says sarcastically. “You just  _ always  _ tire me out.” He throws an arm over his eyes and shuts them.

“You can sleep until the food comes.” Julian suggests.

He’s nodding and then drifting off to sleep, the day’s exhaustion finally catching up to him.

\-----

Danny participates fully in the next team practice and there’s a small sea of reporters and paparazzi littering the parking lot and surrounding the entrance. 

At the end of the practice the coach calls a meeting and a PR manager is waiting in the room as they all take a seat.

Rob nudges Julian in the ribs with an elbow. “You’re so getting in trouble.” He says, laughing softly.

“So this is gonna be a quick meeting, just a few things to say.” The PR manager smiles, brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail. “First, can we please refrain from telling of the media? I know it’s hard and they ask questions to get under your skin, but just let it go, alright?” She looks pointedly at Julian who groans a little and sinks in his seat. “Secondly, careful what you put out on social media. There hasn’t been any incidents, but I just want everyone to be careful yeah? Especially with the newer...dynamics on the team.”

Everyone nods and gives a noise of agreement.

“Great! And I’ll be around if anyone needs any help or anything.” She smiles and dismisses them and Danny grabs a blushing Julian.

“That was totally for you, you know.” Danny points out.

Julian groans again. “I was defending your honor!” He defends.

Danny’s wolf growls in denial, rejecting the thought of an alpha trying to protect him, something he’s denied his whole life because he  _ doesn’t need someone to protect him _ . He pushes the feeling down though and tries to just enjoy having Julian close to him.

He knows he needs to think seriously about this relationship with Julian and if he likes where it’s going. But for now he lets his wolf revel in the warmth the alpha brings him and hopes for the best.

That’s all he can really do anyway:  _ hope _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I'm tired and I'm probably gonna sleep now.


	7. Anonymous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit hits the fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hey, here's a chapter that was supposed to be up THREE DAYS AGO. I have a summer class that's just started that lasts until about August, so updates might be a couple days late. Sorry. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy chapter, ignore small rant about life events. Takes place during week 6 and beginning of the bye week.

Danny pushes all thoughts and doubts of his relationship with Julian out of his mind. Tom will give him questioning looks sometimes after practice with the open invitation that he’ll listen if Danny ever wants to talk and he thinks about calling a few times, but always backs out at the last minute, frowning and biting his lip.

Julian picks up on his slightly distant mood too, asking him about it one evening when they’re sprawled out on the alpha’s couch.

“You doing okay?” Julian asks, fingers rubbing absently through Danny’s hair.

He shrugs. “Yeah, getting better at ignoring the media.” It’s not technically a lie, but it’s also not the whole truth.

“That’s good, babe,” Julian says, then frowns slightly. “Is anything else wrong?”

Danny suppresses the urge to roll his eyes. “No, everything’s fine. Why, is something going on with you?” He asks, turning the question around.

The shocked and slightly hurt look Julian gives him makes a rock form in his stomach, but the look’s gone the next second. “I’m good. Just…” He trails off and shakes his head. “Just worried about you, is all.”

It makes Danny bristle, wanting to instantly insist that he can take care of himself, but the wolf in him whines and basks in the attention and worry that his - _the_ alpha gives him. “I’m alright, really. Just tired.” He changes the subject. “We’ve got the bye week after Sunday, what do you feel like doing?”

Julian takes the subject change and Danny lets out a small relieved breath. “Thinking about taking you out somewhere,” He says it so hesitantly that the rock in Danny’s stomach grows bigger.

But he smiles warmly, leaning his head up slightly to nuzzle at the underside of Julian’s jaw. “I’d like that,”

“I could do the whole ‘wine and dine’ thing,” Julian says, smiling. “Really woo you,”

Danny chuckles and rolls his eyes. “Pretty sure we’re past that stage.”

The hand in his hair tightens slightly as Julian says, “Shush, I’ll woo the fuck out of you,”

He hisses, letting his head fall back. “Oh yeah? You know there’s this three date rule? You gonna break that one again?”

“Okay, well, I didn’t hear you complaining all that much when I broke that rule the first time,” Julian argues. He shifts them around so Danny’s straddling him. “In fact, I seem to recall you enjoying it,”

Danny groans and grinds his hips down, dick already hardening in his jeans. “Like you didn’t,” Julian goes to say something, but Danny kisses him before he can say anything. He whimpers low in his throat and nips at Julian’s lips.

Julian starts to work his hands under his shirt, lips briefly disconnecting as he pulls the shirt over the omega’s head, ruffling his hair. “You’re so beautiful,”

He blushes, leaning in to tuck his head against Julian’s neck. “You’re blinds are open,” He points out, though, he helps the alpha strip off his shirt.

“So?” Julian asks. He cups Danny’s head in his hands so their eyes meet. “You think someone’s watching or something?” He goes to kiss Danny again, but he turns his head to the side, peering out the window.

“Probably not, but I’d rather not take that chance.” Danny says. His eyes flutter slightly when Julian trails kisses down his neck, pausing to suck a mark just high enough where he’ll have trouble hiding it. He tips his head back to give Julian more room, which he takes, biting lightly under his Adam’s apple.

Julian moves a hand down to cup the back of Danny’s neck, thumb stroking along his hairline. It makes his eyelids droop further and his vision starts to feel a little fuzzier around the edges. Julian’s looking at him with soft eyes and he rubs two fingers over Danny’s bottom lip until his mouth drops open and he slips the digits inside.

There’s heat in his cheeks and building heat in his abdomen and he squirms closer to Julian, taking his fingers further into his mouth, sucking on them slowly.

“Want you to suck me,” Julian says, nails scratching lightly at the omega’s neck.

A shiver goes down Danny’s back and he nods around the fingers. He forgets about the window and sinks graciously to his knees, looking up at the alpha through his eyelashes. Julian threads his fingers in Danny’s hair, gripping it softly and he makes a soft sound in the back of his throat.

Danny nuzzles at Julian’s dick through his jeans, reaching his hands up to get at his belt. The alpha chuckles and helps Danny, pushing his own jeans down with his boxers. “Thought you wanted to go to the bedroom,” He croons, rubbing his cock along Danny’s lips.

The word _bedroom_ makes a flash of clarity go through him, but then the hand in his hair tightens and Julian’s finally, _finally_ guiding his cock into his mouth slowly. He moans around it, eyes falling shut, and he lets the alpha guide his head. He’s faintly aware that he’s drooling, on the verge of choking every time the tip of Julian’s cock bumps the back of his throat, but he doesn’t care because this is his _alpha_ and his alpha wants him to take it, so he will because he’s _good_. He is.

“So good for me,” Julian growls above him.

It makes him preen a little and he puts more effort into sucking Julian off, hollowing his cheeks and stroking his tongue under the head. He wonders what he looks like, wonders if Julian would ever take a picture, and that thought makes his own cock twitch and a shiver crawl down his spine.

“Hey, open your eyes for me,” Julian says softly, and he does, opening his eyes and looking up at his alpha. “There you are,” He smiles, cradling Danny’s head. “So gorgeous. ‘M gonna come down your throat and you’re gonna swallow it like a good boy, right?”

Danny knows he can say no, can pull back and stop everything, but he doesn’t. Instead he nods as best he can with a cock in his mouth and Julian sighs, head tipping back and hips thrusting harder until he comes with a groan.

He tries to swallow it all, but some drips down his chin when Julian pulls his softening cock out of Danny’s mouth. He smiles up at Julian, dazed and happy, starting to float in headspace. He’s still hard, a constant throbbing ache between his legs, and then Julian’s pulling him up and getting a hand down his pants, stroking his cock just on the side of too rough. It makes him cry out, hands gripping onto Julian’s shoulders, knees threatening to buckle.

“Good boy,” Julian praises against his ear, making him sob. “You’re so good for me, baby. You wanna come?”

He nods, eyes squeezed shut, bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Please,”

“Go ahead. Come for me, babe, you’ve been so good.”

Danny chokes on his breath, biting down hard onto Julian’s shoulder, muffling his cry. He’s mumbling, “Thank you, thank you” against Julian’s shoulder, shuddering through the aftershocks. He blinks sleepily up at the alpha, relaxed, and smiles, leaning most of his weight onto Julian.

They stumble back over to the couch, Julian helping him out of his jeans and ruined underwear, and then a blanket is being pulled over them. The alpha’s cooing to him, petting him and hugging him close and if Danny could purr, he would be. He tucks his head up under Julian’s, eyes drifting closed.

\-----

Danny doesn’t expect shit to hit the fan a week later. He expects to play in the game - which he does - and then spend time with Julian - which he also does. He doesn’t expect Tom calling him and Julian at eight in the morning on Tuesday with barely concealed panic in his voice.

_“Look, are you at Julian’s?”_

“Um, yeah,” Danny answers, sitting up in the bed. Julian grumbles something next to him. “Are you okay?”

 _“What? Yeah, totally. Um. Just, just stay there, I’m coming over.”_ Tom’s voice is high on the phone and Danny’s heart rate starts to pick up a little. It takes a lot for Tom to panic and Danny can’t imagine what might be wrong.

“Alright,” He finally says. “I’ll, uh, wake Jules up.”

 _“Good. Good.”_ And then the phone hangs up and Danny’s left looking down at his phone.

Julian groans next to him, blinking his eyes open. “Who was that?”

“Tom. I think something’s wrong,”

Julian’s sitting up now, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Did he say what?”

“No, but he’s on his way over here.”  He’s still pretty tired and doesn’t really want to face whatever has Tom panicking. He sighs. “We need to get up. He’ll probably be here soon.”

“Alright.” Julian leans over to kiss him. “Hey, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

He nods, but his stomach is in knots.

The doorbell rings at ten and Julian answers the door revealing Tom, coat buttoned too fast and something clutched in his hands.

“What’s that?” Julian asks, pointing at the bag. “Is it the thing you’re panicking about?”

“Panicking? I’m not...panicking,” Tom says. “Not yet anyway. I haven’t actually seen it yet.” He walks into the kitchen, sitting down on one of the island chairs.

Danny’s leaning against a kitchen counter, arms crossed over himself. “Seen what?”

“I got a call from Bill to come in this morning, so I did, and the PR manager was there and she gave me this. She said it was something about you two and that she’d call us to try and deal with it.”

“Well? What is it?” Julian asks, impatience creeping into his voice. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

Tom looks between them and tosses the bag to Danny. “You look at it first.”

He nods, even though he doesn’t really want to, and reaches into the bag with slightly shaking hands. It’s a magazine, one of the tabloid kind with six different headlines on the cover. He’s included in the main headline with a picture of him on the couch with Julian, both asleep.

“Shit,” He mumbles, closing his eyes. “The fucking window,”

“What?” Julian asks, coming closer and leaning to see the cover. “Oh,”

The cover boasts that there’s more pictures _inside on pg. 9!_ and he _really_ doesn’t want to open it, but both alphas are next to him now, so he flips open to the page and shit, it gets even _worse_. There’s a full article written on one page, with four pictures plastered on the other. The biggest one is of him on his knees in front of a shirtless Julian, looking up at the alpha with a slightly parted mouth. There’s one with both of them standing, Julian’s hand down Danny’s pants, one where he’s straddling Julian on the couch and another of them cuddled under a blanket.

Danny groans, face burning. “We look like we belong in a fucking porno.” His eyes scan over the article.

 

_Julian and Danny: Buddies or Boyfriends?_

_New England Patriots’ wide receivers seem to be more than just simple friends. They were speculated about before, but now with solid confirmation, it’s, er,_ **_very_ ** _clear to see that they’re a little more...intimate. Photos uploaded from an anonymous source confirm that Danny Amendola is more omega than he wants others to think. Sure he’s in the NFL with alphas, but when it comes down to it, he’s still an omega who’s willing to fall to his knees for an alpha. And he could certainly do worse than Julian Edelman, the team’s leading receiver._

 _The pictures were leaked last night, emailed to a handful of companies by different email addresses, none of which has responded to any responses. We think they were taken outside of Edelman’s house and we wouldn’t be surprised if the alpha took some sort of legal action against the mysterious paparazzi. It wouldn’t matter much, the pictures are already out there and causing a lot of talk and a_ **_storm_ ** _of controversy._

 

_The question now is how will this affect the team as a whole and if Julian wants this to be a permanent situation. Presumably, Julian wouldn’t want a bonding to happen between the two, but maybe Danny’s omega charm will win him over._

 

“What the fuck.” Danny mumbles after he finishes reading. He shoves the magazine into Tom’s hands. “I don’t wanna look at it anymore.” He walks out of the kitchen, running his hands through his hair.

“Danny,” Julian follows him, grabbing his arm. “‘Dola, wait,”

“What,” He spins around facing the alpha.

Julian pulls him into his arms. “Just wait a second and breathe,”

Danny tries to push away, but gives up when Julian’s arms tighten around him. He sighs and buries his face in Julian’s shoulder, hands clutching onto the alpha’s shirt. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” He whispers.

“I know,” Julian says, petting his fingers through Danny’s hair. “I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you about the window.”

He tips his head up slightly. “Not your fault.” He runs his nose across Julian’s jaw, scenting him. The salty scent of ocean waves surround him and he snuggles closer to the alpha automatically. He feels a kiss land in his hair and he hates that his eyes tear up a little. “What’re we gonna do?”

Julian pushes him back a little, cradling Danny’s face in his hands. “We’ll figure it out together, yeah?” He thumbs away a couple of tears that have managed to spill over.

Julian leads them both back to the kitchen where Tom’s hunched over the kitchen island, light from his phone screen illuminating his face. He looks up, forcing a small smile. “Hey,”

“What’s social network saying about us?” Julian asks.

Tom shrugs. “About what you’d expect. There’s a lot of assholes, a handful of supporters.” He rubs a hand down his face. "I'm not sure why we didn't notice it before."

“So what do we do now?”

“We’ll probably have a meeting with the managers. You guys’ll make a statement to the public.” Tom shrugs a shoulder. “It’ll be alright.” He gives them a small smile, this one genuine. His phone rings and he makes a face down at it. “That’s the PR manager.” He stands and walks out of the kitchen, answering his phone.

Danny leans his weight heavily against Julian, feeling exhausted even though he just woke up. “They didn’t even seem to care that there was a person _outside your house_.”

“S’cause they’re all vultures.”

“I really don’t want to do a public statement today.” He says quietly. “They’re just gonna give us pre written things to say to a room full of cameras.”

“We’ll say what we want to say, even if that’s nothing. They can’t force us to say what they give us.” Julian says.

Danny goes to say something, but Tom comes back in. “You guys should get ready. They, uh, want us all there for press conferences at noon. They want to have you guys make the public statement as soon as possible.” He points his thumb behind him over his shoulder. “I’m gonna head over there now. So, I’ll meet you guys. Everything’ll be alright though.”

“Thanks, Tommy. We’ll head over soon.” Julian says. Tom nods before leaving, the door clicking shut behind him. Julian tilts his head down to plant a kiss in Danny’s hair. “Shower?”

Danny nods. “Yeah.”

Julian leads them to the bathroom and Danny lets him undress them both. The water is steaming and it makes some of the tension in his shoulders melt away. Julian works shampoo into the Danny’s hair gently and the omega leans into the hands. It makes him forget for a little while that there’s pictures of him on his knees in a magazine.

“Hey, hey,” Julian starts softly. “You’re alright, I’m gonna be right next to you.”

He doesn’t say anything until they’re both dressed and he’s slipping on one of Julian’s old Kent State hoodies.

“Are you...okay with this?” He asks softly.

Julian frowns for a second before answering. “What? Of course I am.” His eyes flick down to the hoodie. “Are you sure you’re okay wearing _that_?”

Danny blinks and looks down. “Oh. Should I not wear it?”

Julian smiles and pulls him in for a kiss. “Leave it, I like it. Now come on, Tom’s probably waiting for us.”

\-----

He thinks, maybe, that the management will give them pre written speeches saying something about team dynamics, but instead he gets their PR manager smiling encouragingly at them.

“We’re holding a press conference at noon,” She says. “They wanted you guys to hold separate press conferences - _but_ ,” She adds quickly when she sees Danny’s eyes widen. “I convinced them to let you guys hold one together.”

Danny breathes out a sigh of relief, half hiding behind Julian. “Thank you.” The alpha says. “Really. We appreciate it.”

She gives them both another smile, one filled with masked pity and concern. “I am sorry. We’re trying to find whoever took the pictures.”

“Thanks,” Danny says quietly, peeking a little around Julian and smiling a little.

“It’s no problem.” She glances down at her watch. “Tom’s still in there, so you guys have some time to think about what to say.”

Danny watches as she leaves and then turns to Julian. “I don’t want to do this.” He felt like he could do it earlier, could go up in front of cameras and make some kind of profound statement about how his personal life is no one’s business, but now his heart feels like it’s in his throat and his hands have started to tremble again.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Julian says, tightening his arms around the omega. “You can just stand there next to me if you want.”

He nods, then shakes his head. “No, I have to say something. If I don’t say anything then they’ll run away with it and think I’m just like every other omega.” He sighs, shoulders slumping, and tries to slip on a mask of indifference.

Tom’s walking out of the press room, looking just as exhausted as he did a few hours ago. He gives them both a tired smile. “You guys sure you wanna do this? I can tell them you weren’t available or something.”

Danny looks up at Julian and nudges him to answer. “No, no, we’re...we’ll be okay.”

Tom nods. “Alright. I’ll probably still be here when you guys are finished.” He gestures to the press room door with his hand. “Good luck.”

Julian pushes the door open first and all Danny can hear are the cameras. He wonders if everyone is able to tell how terrified he is by his scent or if only Julian can. He hopes it’s the latter.

He zones out for most of the conference, holding Julian’s hand and half hiding behind him. The only time he answers questions is when they’re aimed directly at him and even then his answers are short and to the point. What can he really say, anyway? That this dream of a relationship is turning into a nightmare because of some nosey paparazzi?

“My relationship with Danny isn’t going to change team dynamics or how we’re treated by the team. We still work hard and want to win games and our class or relationship doesn’t effect that,”

“Are you going two going to bond?”

The question makes Danny tense and answer, “No.” He clenches his jaw. “A relationship with an omega doesn’t mean automatic bonding, it never has. We’re in a relationship because we like each other, not because of our class or anything else.”

“So him being an alpha isn’t a factor?”

He resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Of course not.”

“So Julian did help you through your heat?”

“We’re done here.” Danny says, firm.

The reporter opens his mouth to object, but Julian interrupts, repeating, “He said we’re done. So we’re done.” There’s hints of alpha slipping into his tone that shuts up the reporters and he leads them out of the press room.

Tom’s waiting for them outside, face glued to his phone. “How’d it go?”

Danny shrugs. “Could’ve gone worse probably.” He looks around. “I think I’m gonna head home. If I’m not needed here anymore?”

“No, yeah, you can head home. I’ll take care of it.” Tom answers, giving him a half smile.

“Thanks.”

“Am I coming with you?” Julian asks from next to him, eyes shining with nervousness.

“Um,” He blinks. He doesn't really want the alpha to come with him, really just wants to be on his own, but... “Yeah, ‘course.”

“‘Cause I’d understand if you want some space with what’s happened and like, yeah.”

Danny shakes his head. “No, don’t be stupid,” He squeezes Julian’s hand. “C’mon, sleep.”

They both look over at Tom one last time, making sure that they’re really being given the okay to leave. He waves them off. “Go, don’t worry, I’ll call if anything else happens.”

“Thanks, Tommy.” Danny says, smiling tiredly.

He hopes that he doesn’t get any calls, but knows that hoping is pointless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me about errors and stuff! Or comment nice stuff. Either one.  
> [Come talk to me!](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com)


	8. Communication is Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clouds of sadness come and go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy backstory, Batman! The first bit of this was supposed to be in the last chapter, but the chapter was getting too long, so it had to go here. This had an outlined timeline, it might stretch longer than 13 chapters though. 
> 
> The game detailed is that 2013 comeback game against the Broncos with some added twists. We're also on week 8 of this made up NFL season in case anyone was lost, because I suck with distinguishing time. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING for past abuse. It's nothing too graphic, but if that's something that triggers you, please take caution.

When Danny was younger his parents used to tell him that he needed to be careful, that there were people out there who would take advantage of him, that people would be able to tell that he was an omega before he even opened his mouth. He thought they were wrong; how could someone tell his class without knowing him? Why would his class make a difference for someone anyway? He was young, saw the world with wide eyes and an open heart. 

He seemed to prove his parents wrong at first. People liked him, alphas and betas loved that he was so open about his class, that he wasn’t ashamed about being an omega. And for a  while he was happy. He spent his time proving people wrong on a football field and then basking in the attention he would receive off of it. And maybe it was unhealthy and maybe his parents looked at him with concerned eyes until he reached the NFL, but he was young and stupid.

Nothing really changed for the worst until he signed with St. Louis and even then, the changes were gradual. His teammates were nice at first, patting him on the back and telling him that they wouldn’t treat him any differently and, for a while, they didn’t. Through training camp and then the preseason games, Danny thought it was going to be just like college.

In retrospect, he should’ve listened to his parents.

He remembers the first time he was backhanded and shoved down to his knees in a locker room after a game, getting blamed for a a 23-16 loss. He remembers looking for Sam Bradford because it was  _ Sam _ and he  _ wouldn’t let something like this happen _ . Not after  _ promising  _ Danny something like this wouldn’t happen.

He remembers, after blinking the stars from his vision, that feeling of helplessness as the safety, Craig Dahl, stood over him in full alpha mode with a hand fisted in his hair. No one else seemed to want to get involved, either agreeing with the alpha or not wanting to get between them.

When Sam stepped between them he remembers slumping down against the wall, heart in his throat and beating too fast. Sam talked to the other alpha for a long time while Danny tried to catch his breath. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, too caught up in trying to breathe right again.

He remembers Sam picking him up off the floor and leading him out of the locker room, whispers following them as they left.

People backed off for a while after that and he spent a lot of time around Sam, keeping his distance from the rest of the team. He remembers liking Sam a lot, the first alpha to really ever stand up for him, and Sam liked him too; would throw him more passes during practices and games and would give him small smiles after.

He shied away from the other players and built up chemistry with Sam, but the other players, particularly the other receivers, didn’t like that because it meant more receptions for him and less for them.

He remembers losing his virginity at twenty one to Sam Bradford the night before playing against the Patriots, remembers being held afterwards with whispered words of praise and promises of protection. He remembers fireworks and thinking that that was the happiest he could be, losing his virginity to someone he could love, someone he could see starting a life with.

And that was always his problem, opening his heart up too soon to too many people. His parents told him it came with the territory of being an omega and getting his heart broken was just another everyday thing.

He didn’t know that some alphas were out there for the sex only, didn’t know that getting a broken heart really did come with the territory of being an omega, thought that his first time would be with someone who  _ loved  _ him, not someone who just wanted to get their rocks off.

He remembers being backhanded for the second time after losing to the Patriots, remembers shouting and falling to the ground after hitting a wall thinking that Sam just has to get there to stop this because he  _ promised _ .

He should’ve seen something like this coming, he realizes, but he was young and stupid and a little bit in love and he believed any sugary sweet words that were whispered to him.

He remembers that feeling of - of  _ betrayal _ and  _ heartbreak _ when he looked up to see Sam standing there, eyes that were full of love now full of anger and he remembers being scared, so fucking scared, because his heart was breaking for the first time and no one actually told him about this part and how much it hurt.

There was a moment of silence where everything seemed to freeze and then Sam took a step back, pushed a hand through his hair and collapsed down next to him apologizing. And, being the naive idiot Danny was, he forgave Sam. He let himself be wrapped up in the alpha’s arms and believed the apologies that were spoken to him.

It didn’t get better like he thought it would, it got worse. The kicker, a soft spoken beta, came up to him once after practice asking about his split lip. He said it was from football, just a tackle gone wrong, but the beta looked at him with furrowed brows and said if he ever needed to, he could talk to him.

He didn’t need to talk because Sam  _ loved him _ , had said so himself, whispered through tears after apologizing for hitting him again, so there was nothing for him to talk about.

It went on like this for a year before, after being pushed against the lockers, Sam’s phone rang. And it wasn’t like that was something unusual, phone calls seem to interrupt him more often these days, but this time Sam didn’t come back. So he stumbled to his feet, running his fingers through his hair, feeling for bruises or bumps.

He waited for Sam to get back so they could leave together like they normally do. He waited for ten minutes, eighteen minutes, thirty minutes...By the time forty minutes have gone by, he had given up hope that Sam was coming back. 

He remembers his mom calling him that night asking him how he was doing and he just  _ broke _ . Words of love and hatred for Sam Bradford poured out of his mouth while tears finally,  _ finally _ , fell from his eyes. He remembers telling his mom that he knew he was in an unhealthy relationship, but he just wanted to be  _ loved _ and  _ needed _ .

His mom told him that he should leave and protect his heart more, cradle it close to himself so no one could get to it and hurt him. So that’s what he did, he became distant from everyone - even Sam - and wrapped his heart up as best he could. He had sex with other random alphas and betas, disconnected his heart from the world and lived life like an alpha would. And if he sometimes cried himself to sleep because he was lonely and scared, well, no one had to know.

\-----

Sometimes when he looks at Julian, Danny feels those familiar butterflies in his stomach that he got when he would look at Sam and it scares him. He thought he was done with that, thought he pushed those feelings far, far away, but, apparently, he didn’t. 

He still has nightmares of being slammed up against lockers and shouted at. He’d wake up breathing too fast with sweat dotting his forehead. It hadn’t happened in awhile, not since he signed with New England, so he probably should’ve known he was due for one.

It’s after he’s managed to convince Julian to leave, promising that he was  _ fine _ , that the familiar nightmare hit. He’s startled awake on his couch, shaking, and sits up quickly, looking around. He breathes a long sigh of relief when he recognizes that he’s still in his own house and not a locker room.

He reaches for his phone and 9:26pm shines up at him. His thumb hovers over Julian’s number, then Tom’s, before scrolling passed both. His eyes catch on the name  _ Tyler Seguin _ and he’s pressing call and holding the phone to his ear before he can second guess it.

_ “Daniel, hey!”  _ Comes the greeting.

“Ugh, no don’t call me that,” He groans.

A laugh, then,  _ “So what’s going on up in Boston?” _

Danny coughs. “Well, I’m on the cover of almost every magazine and newspaper so…”

_ “Oh shit, yeah, I heard about that. You doin’ okay?” _

“Oh, you know,” He laughs a little, hollow. “Not good.”

There’s rustling from across the line.  _ “Me and Jamie can come up or something,”  _ He suggests.  _ “We don’t have a game tomorrow and we can get out of optional skate,” _

“No, that’s...that’s not - you guys don’t need to come up here for me,”

_ “Is Julian there with you?” _ He asks.

“He left a little while ago,” Danny fiddles with the hem of his shirt. “I...I don’t really want him around right now,”

_ “What? Why?” _

“It’s complicated.”

Tyler huffs a breath.  _ “We’re coming up tomorrow. We’ll be there at eleven.” _

Danny’s eyes widen. “What? No, seriously, I’m fine, really. You guys don’t need to -”

_ “Danny?” _ It’s Jamie now, voice gentle but hard.

“Yes?”

_ “We’re coming tomorrow.” _

He looks down at his lap, lips twitching into a small smile. “Okay.”

There’s some more rustling and hushed words before,  _ “Sorry about Jamie,”  _ Tyler apologizes.

“It’s fine. So I guess I’m seeing you guys tomorrow?”

_ “Yep!” _

Danny runs a hand through his hair. “But why?”

_ “What?” _

“Why,” He repeats. “Why’re you guys skipping a practice and flying up here?” His voice gets softer. “I mean, it’s just me.”

“ _ It’s only optional skate, and I know what it’s like _ ,” Tyler says. “ _ Us omegas have to stick together. _ ”

His smile widens a fraction. “Thanks.”

_ “No problem. Now get some sleep. We’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, and we’ll try to keep it on the down low so no more drama comes your way.” _

He scoffs. “Yeah, good luck.”

\-----

It’s eleven thirty when Jamie and Tyler show up at his door, quickly pushing passed him and shutting the door. 

“We think there were cameras.” Tyler explains, apologizing with his eyes and pulling Danny into a quick hug.

Jamie smiles at him and claps a hand on his shoulder a little awkwardly. “Just hug him,” Tyler says. “I know your instincts want you to.” He’s not angry or jealous just exasperated, like this is something he’s told Jamie to do a hundred times.

Jamie pulls him into hug then and, Christ, he’s  _ huge _ , all broad shouldered, and the scent of cinnamon surrounds him, reminding him of childhood Christmases spent with family. Jamie’s scent goes unnaturally well with Tyler’s own citrusy scent and he doesn’t feel that crippling anxiety crushing his heart that he sometimes gets when he looks at Julian now. The same anxiety he used to feel (and still does) when he thinks about Sam Bradford.

As he’s leading them all to his living room he thinks that he should probably let Julian know about this, especially if there were cameras that saw Tyler and Jamie.

“So,” Tyler starts, pulling him out of his thoughts. “What’s complicated?”

He shrugs. “Just...stuff.”

Tyler raises an eyebrow at him. “C’mon,”

He shrugs again and sighs. “It’s just...Jules is worried about me all the time now and I’m not  _ supposed  _ to need help,” He clenches his jaw. “I get this anxiety whenever I’m around him now and I don’t know why.” Which is mostly the truth, he has a feeling he knows why, he’d just rather not think of it.

Tyler frowns at the other omega before flicking his eyes to Jamie. “Babe, you know that Thai place that we got last time we were up here?” When the alpha nods, he continues, “Could you go get some food? Thanks.” He’s pushing Jamie towards the door, ignoring his questioning noises, and kissing his cheek before turning back to Danny. “You were with an alpha before, weren’t you.” It’s a statement.

Danny blinks. “Um, wait, what?”

Tyler falls back onto the couch. “You. You had an alpha before coming to Boston,”

“How’d you know?”

“I know the look. Was he a person from your old team?” Tyler asks.

“Yeah,” Danny’s furrows his brows. “He was the quarterback...but I don’t get it, what’s that have to do with Julian?”

“The first alpha to fuck you over stays with you for a long time.” He says, glancing at the door quickly. “Takes someone special to get you over it.” He swallows and runs a hand through his hair. “When I was with the Bruins, they didn’t treat me all that well so I went out and got drunk a lot. But I had a thing with the captain, he was nice for a while before we started losing more. It...Well then things happened and I was off to Dallas,” He shakes his head. “I guess what I mean is that I know how you feel. With the anxiety you’re feeling around another alpha who likes you.”

Danny’s quiet for a minute, then, “How’d you get over it?”

“It took time, Jamie was really patient with me. Communication is key.” Tyler smiles then. “And I know Jules would understand, he likes you a lot.”

Danny can feel his cheeks heat slightly. “I don’t - what if it’s not enough?” When Tyler gives him a questioning look, he continues, “What if he gets sick of waiting for me? Or what if the feeling never leaves? I get so tired of it sometimes.”

“He won’t,” Tyler says firmly. “You gotta let yourself open up enough for the feeling to leave, but it will leave.” 

Danny nods and then Jamie is back, knocking on the door with arms full of takeout bags. He smiles at them and settles in next to Tyler again, the omega tucking himself against the alpha. Tyler smiles at him then and says, “He’ll understand, just talk to him.”

\-----

Danny doesn’t talk to Julian. He means to, he really does, but every time he opens his mouth he chokes on the words that get stuck in his throat. So he avoids the alpha, claiming exhaustion whenever Julian offers to come over. It goes on like this for a week before Julian manages to corner him in the locker room. 

“Did I do something?” Julian asks, blue eyes earnest.

“What?” 

“Did I do something,” He repeats. “You’ve been avoiding me all week.”

“Have I?” Danny answers a little nervously. That familiar anxiety creeping up on him. “Sorry, I’ve just been trying to figure some stuff out. You didn’t do anything.”

Julian frowns. “Are you sure? Because I thought we were dating. Is that - do you not want to date?”

“No, I do. I’m just,” He sighs, suddenly bone tired. “Look, can we...can we do this somewhere else?”

“Where?”

“Anywhere else but here,” Danny says quietly. “Meet me at my place.” Julian is nodding and Danny gives him a small, genuine smile, watching the alpha quietly leave the locker room.

He is not looking forward to this talk, the anxiety now gripping his heart and squeezing. He sighs and starts walking towards the exit, heart growing heavier with every step.

 

Julian’s car is already at Danny’s house when he pulls his car up to it. His hands are trembling just slightly and he takes a couple deep of breaths before exiting his car and slowly walking to his front door where Julian is waiting. 

The alpha smiles at him, hands in his pockets. ‘’Hey,” He says softly.

The anxiety loosens its hold just slightly at the smile and Danny smiles back, unlocking the door them and letting Julian in.

“So you wanted to talk about something?” Julian asks and Danny can see the nervousness in his eyes.

Danny nods. “Yeah, um, it’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

So Danny tells him everything. Tells him about how he was naive and how he fell in love with Sam Bradford and how he used to get beat around in the locker room after games. He talks about the nightmares he still gets, paranoia about being hit or shoved around leaking into his dreams. He talks and talks until all the anxiety is gone from his chest and he feels like he can  _ breathe _ a little more easily now.

Julian doesn’t say anything once he’s finished talking and there’s a trickle of worry seeping into his mind.

“That’s a, that’s a lot of information to take in at once,” Julian says, rubbing a hand over his face. “You dated Sam Bradford?” And of course that’s the thing Julian chooses to ask about first.

“No, well yes. Kinda.” Danny answers. “No one knew about us except the team and Sam always threatened them if they looked like they might say something about it.” He sighs. “Look, that’s not - what I’m saying is that I like you, but this is gonna take some time for me.”

“When did it start? The feeling, I mean. Was it there the whole time?”

“No, no, god no,” Danny answers quickly. “I don’t know when it started. Maybe when the pictures came out? It’s only been a couple of weeks.” He looks down at his lap and quietly says, “I don’t know how long it’s gonna take. But...I just,” He clenches his jaw. “If you don’t wanna deal with this then that’s fine.” It’s not fine, not really, because the anxiety he’s feeling triples as soon as he says that, as soon as he gives Julian a chance to back out of their whatever of a relationship. But he knows it’s stupid at the same time because it doesn’t make sense. He feels anxious as all hell being around Julian, but gets more anxious thinking about Julian not being there at all anymore.

He’s not sure what he wants Julian’s answer to be, wants to him to leave because then there’s no risk of being hurt, they can just make a clean break and hope for the best. Wants him to stay because he’s his best friend and he’s never had a connection like this before with anyone. He dreads falling asleep next to Julian sometimes, but loves waking up to him in the morning.

He’s all over the place and he feels like he’s about to break.

Julian opens and closes his mouth a few times, looking like he’s trying to figure out what he wants to say. And then, finally, “Did you think I was gonna walk away?” Danny shrugs a shoulder and Julian rolls his eyes and moves closer to the omega. “Idiot,” He murmurs affectionately. “I’m not some knothead, you know. I don’t do a lot of one night stands, or, week long stands in our case. If you need space, I can give you space,”

“I don’t, I don’t _want_ space.” Danny says.

“But maybe you need some sometimes.” Julian says, smiling softly at him. “This isn’t me walking away from you, okay? I’m gonna be here as much or as little as you want me to be.” He scratches at his stubble. “Hey, during your heat…”

Danny waves him off. “I need time to cope...romantically, not -” He can feel the tips of his ears burning. “- not sexually. Obviously.”

Julian laughs. “So I should cancel on the mountain of flowers I was gonna have delivered?” He jokes.

“Fuck you,” Danny laughs, shoving at the alpha’s shoulders. “You’re really okay with this?” He asks softly.

“Yeah, I’m really okay with this.”

“Thank you.” He says. He still kind of feels like he can break at any second, still kind of feels like he wants to run away, but, it’s better. If only slightly.

\-----

They play the Broncos Sunday night and it’s a game that seems much more significant than just a week eight game. Everyone’s emotions seem heightened and Tom has that gleam in his eye, the same competitive gleam he always gets when he goes up against Peyton Manning. 

Julian has a look too and Danny knows it’s because Wes Welker is standing on the other side of the field from him for the first time. He doesn’t ask the alpha anything about it, doesn’t want to know if it’s just because Julian feels like he’s lost a friend or if he feels like he’s lost something more. It makes his heart twist a little, thinking that Julian could be missing the beta like an old lover.

It would serve him right though, he thinks, to see Julian missing an old lover or friend when he feels like he’s acting more like an ex lover himself.

The first half is more or less a disaster and they’re 24 - 0 going into halftime. Tom is quietly mad, giving harsh words of encouragement, all alpha and clearly the leader, making Danny shrink in on himself on instinct. Julian hasn’t said anything since they left the field, shoulders tense and eyes like steel. Rob seems to be the only one with a real smile still on his face, agreeing with Tom and saying that there’s still thirty minutes left.

By the time all the coaches are done chewing them out, there’s only a few minutes left of halftime. Danny makes his way over to Julian, knocking shoulders with the alpha. “Hey,” He says quietly. “You okay?”

Julian is slow to answer. “Yeah. Just frustrated.”

“About the game?”

“What else would I be frustrated about?” Julian answers dryly. He runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry. I just - we already got blown out by the Chiefs, we can’t afford to get blown out again.”

Danny nods. ‘Yeah.” He knows that’s not the full reason, but he doesn’t say anything else.

After a minute, Julian sighs and says, “It’s weird seeing Wes in an orange uniform is all. I always thought he’d retire in New England,” They can both sense the  _ with me _ that isn’t said. “We weren’t a couple,” He says quickly. “I mean, I always had a suspicion that he wanted more, but we were always just close friends and it feels like he just...disconnected from all of us after he signed with Denver.”

Danny feels a shiver of relief go down his back. “I’m sorry,” He says, and means it, even if he is a little happy that they were never a couple. “Have you talked to him since then?”

“No. I’ve tried, but…” Julian trails off.

“If, if you need to talk to him after the game, you can.” Danny suggests.

Julian shakes his head. “No, I don’t need to. I think it’d hurt him more than anything. Are  _ you  _ doin’ okay?”

“As well as everyone else.” He shrugs. “I was a little shaken up from all the alpha voices earlier, but I’m good now.”

“Good, we need you out there.” Julian smiles at him as halftime ends. “Now let’s go kick their asses.”

 

It’s in overtime with five minutes left, tied at 31, when Danny meets Wes Welker for the first time. He doesn’t know why Wes is out on the field when he’s returning a punt, doesn’t know how Wes even managed to get on the field with the special teams, but he’s there and tackling Danny at the twenty six yard line.

“ _ Fuckin’ whore _ ,” Wes hisses out at him, standing.

It’s an insult he’s heard too many times to count and he just rolls his eyes as he gets off the ground. “Did you come out with the special teams just to say that?”

Wes takes a step closer to him so they’re helmet to helmet. “I came out to see who Julian’s fucking.”

There’s a fire in his stomach, adrenaline starting to pump, wanting to fight while the omega in him wants him to flee. “Why, wish it was you?”

That seems to push Wes over the line, because the beta shoves Danny’s helmet off and grabs at his jersey swinging them both to the ground. Danny’s head hits the turf hard, blooms of pain flashing in his vision. He blindly shoves a hand up, grabbing Wes’ facemask and ripping his helmet off too.

“Sucks that he chose some omega over you, huh.” He laughs out, shoving at Wes’ shoulders, trying to get him off. 

Wes growls at him and it makes him pause for a split second, his wolf whining at him to back down and  _ submit _ like an omega. It’s only for a second, but it’s enough time for Wes to punch him, making him see stars again. He groans in pain while his wolf finally growls at him, flight instinct turning to fight as adrenaline rushes through his body. He growls and uses his hand to shove at Wes’ face, connecting it against the beta’s mouth, hand coming away with blood.  

There’s a ref and half the team suddenly between them, dragging Wes off and lifting him off the ground. He staggers a bit, dizzy, but strains against the arms that have him in a bear hug and snarls, trying to get at the beta again.

The Broncos have come out to the field now too and Tom is shouting at the referee while the linesmen throw their flags and try to separate the teams. Rob is pushing and shoving at anyone coming in his range, keeping the other players away from Danny even though the omega’s blood is singing, wanting a fight.

He bites down on the arm around him, breaking the hold and charges at Wes, full body tackling him to the ground. He doesn’t get any further than slamming the beta’s head to the ground before there’s another pair of arms around him, yanking him off. It’s Tom this time, Danny recognizing the scent of honeyed whiskey, that’s dragging him off the field.

The crowd is roaring when the linesmen finally get the teams separated and the referee turns on his mic and announces numbers 83, 80, and 11 as players ejected from the game.

Danny’s head clears a little when he hears Julian’s number, but he’s still growling at Tom who is leading him into the locker room.

Tom wrestles him out of his pads and into the small medical room where the medical team is waiting, hesitant looks on their faces. He’s held tight against Tom, hands pinned to his chest when a few try to get close to him, only to back up when he snaps his teeth at all of them.

“Should we wait until he calms down?” One of them asks nervously.

“No. He’s gonna drop bad after all the adrenaline is gone, just do it quick.” Tom growls.

He twists his head around when a flashlight is shone in his eyes and the beta steps back quickly when Danny almost manages to get at his fingers. He hears Tom thank them before pulling them both back to the locker room.

He sees Julian sitting on a bench and strains forward against Tom’s arms. He doesn’t know what they say to each other, only that Tom’s arms get replaced by Julian’s and he’s pulled against Julian’s chest instead. He’s still thrashing, but calms a little when the scent of sunny beaches surrounds him.

He lurches forward with a growl, Julian following and pressing his lips against the omega’s ear. “Hey - shh, hey, it’s me,” He coos. “Can you calm down a little for me?”

Danny bares his teeth, panting harshly, sweat making his hair stick to his forehead. He tries to thrash around, but only succeeds in exhausting himself, eventually falling limp in the alpha’s arms, adrenaline leaving his body in a rush that leaves him reeling.

He shivers, curling against Julian, exhausted. “Jules?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Julian answers softly. “You back now?”

He nods, turning his head to scent at the alpha greedily. “Yeah,”

Julian pulls him close, pressing a kiss to his hair. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” Danny apologizes, letting his eyes shut.

“How’s your eye?”

He hums quietly. “Should’ve seen the other guy.”

Julian chuckles quietly. “I did, had blood running down his chin.”

Danny smiles softly. “How’d you get ejected from the game?” He asks.

“Punched a guy trying to get to you.” Julian answers sheepishly.

Danny rolls his eyes. “I was fine.”

“Yeah, you were,” Julian agrees. “How’re you feeling now?”

“Tired.” He murmurs. He glances up at Julian. “We can leave now?” He asks.

The alpha nods. “Yeah, we can. C’mon.”

They leave through the back and he falls asleep in Julian’s car, head against the passenger window. He blinks his eyes open when Julian nudges at his shoulder.

“Hey,” Julian says softly. “We’re at your house.”

His hands are shaking less as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes. “Hmm, thanks,” He yawns. “You’re coming in, right?”

Julian blinks at him, surprised. “If, if you want me to,”

He nods. “Still a little shaky,”

Julian still looks a little surprised, but gets out of the car and goes around to help Danny out. “You don’t want me to call Tommy or something?” He asks.

“Nah, I guess you’ll do,” Danny jokes. It takes a few tries for him to unlock his front door, but he manages so he counts it as a success. “What’re you doing?” He asks as Julian just kind of stands in the doorway, unsure.

“Um…”

“Come on,” He says, rolling his eyes. “I’d tell you if I didn’t want you here.” He walks to his bedroom, figuring if Julian wants to stay he’ll follow.

Julian does follow him, a bit awkwardly, and asks, “You’re sure, right? I don’t want to -”

“I said I needed space sometimes, not that I didn’t know what I wanted.” He snaps, falling onto his bed. “Now get over here.”

Julian slips into the bed next to him and he sighs, finally feeling almost completely calm again. He rolls over so he’s curled up against the alpha, scenting him. “You’ve just dropped pretty hard, don’t get scent drunk on me now,” Julian chuckles.

“I won’t. About to fall asleep anyway,” Danny says through a yawn. “Hey,” He says quietly. “You know you aren’t Sam, right?”

“What?”

He sighs slightly, half asleep. “Like, just because you’re an alpha I like, it doesn’t mean I see you the way I saw Sam. Yeah, sometimes I need space because I get scared and sometimes want to feel more independent -”

“But you are independent.”

“- but I don’t think you’re gonna knot me and run anymore,” He continues, ignoring Julian’s interruption. “So don’t treat me like I don’t know what I want.” He sighs again and presses a kiss against the underside of Julian’s jaw. “Now sleep, dumbass.” He isn’t sure where all this is coming from, maybe there’s still a little bit of adrenaline left in him, but he thinks it’s true.

Julian could’ve gone to see Wes just as easily as he helped him in the locker room. He knows if he got in a fight with one of Sam’s old friends who wanted more, Sam wouldn’t even bothered to check if he was alright, would’ve been too concerned with how Danny embarrassed them. 

Sam wouldn’t have bothered to offer to stay over for something like this, and Danny knows - well, is pretty sure - that not every alpha is like Sam. Hell, everyone on his team is an alpha and none of them are anything like Sam or his old St. Louis teammates.

And he’s...happy, he thinks, for now.

But happiness never lasts for too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think writing this was much better than doing college homework.   
> Got a suggestion or criticism? Leave a comment! I love that shit!   
> [Come talk to me!](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com)


	9. Catalyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tom, always the mediator. Also, there's Julian's POV TWICE whaaaaat. Yeah, there probably won't be any more Julian POVs in the future, unless you guys like them, so tell me! 
> 
> There's like...2300 words more that wasn't originally planned. This whole story is barely following the outline I had planned. Sigh. There's gonna be way more chapters than 13...sigh.

Danny wakes up to bed sheets that smell like sandy beaches and a sore face. He groans softly and untangles himself from Julian, sitting up. He lifts a hand, gingerly touching the bruise decorating his cheekbone.

“Don’t touch it, you’ll make it worse,”

He turns his head to see Julian, hair disheveled, looking at him through half lidded eyes.

“I’m fine,” He says, but he pulls his hand down anyway. “How’s it look?”

Julian sits up now too, sheets pooling around his waist, “Looks like someone decked you in the face,” He jokes.

Danny rolls his eyes. “I’m assuming bad then?” He gets out of the bed and looks in the mirror hanging over his dresser. It’s not swollen anymore, but there’s a galaxy of blues and purples surrounding his right eye. “So it’s bad,” He concludes.

“It’s not _that_ bad,” Julian argues, coming up behind him and looking in the mirror over his shoulder.

“Oh shut up,” Danny chuckles. “You can say it’s bad because it is.”

“Alright, it’s kind of bad,”

“Exactly.”

“It’s not like it makes you less hot, you know,” Julian points out, smirking.

Danny rolls his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause _that’s_ what I’m worried about,” He says sarcastically.

The alpha chuckles. “Does it still hurt?”

He shrugs. “Little bit. Looks worse than it feels. It’ll be fine in a week or two,”

It’s quiet for a minute and then Julian seems to remember something, stepping back away from Danny awkwardly, leaving him cold. “I’ll, um, -” a phone rings, cutting him off.

Danny moves to the bed, answering it. “Hello?”

 _“Hey, good, you’re up,”_ It’s Tom. _“How’re you feeling?”_

“I’m fine, Jules is here,” He turns to look at the alpha, frowning when he doesn’t see him. “Or, he _was_ here,”

_“Oh…?”_

“Nothing, nevermind. Anyway do I need to do anything?” He asks, leaving his bedroom to find Julian.

 _“No, unless you wanna hold an interview or something. You don’t have to say anything because the whole team was involved,”_ Tom explains.

He sighs in relief. “Awesome,” His frown deepens when he finds his kitchen and living room empty as well. “Oh, did we win the game?”

 _“Yeah, winning field goal.”_ Tom says, and Danny can hear the smile in his voice. _“Are you and Jules showing up to practice together?”_

“I don’t know,” He glances out his window and curses under his breath when he sees Julian’s car missing. “Goddammit,”

_“Is everything okay?”_

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. Me and Jules aren’t carpooling,” He answers.

_“I thought you said he was with you,”_

“He _was_ , but he left because I told him I needed space sometimes and now he thinks I need space all the time,” He explains in a rush.

_“Um, that’s...sorry,”_

He sighs, not wanting to get into the full story. “No, it’s, he’s just being an idiot,”

Tom scoffs over the phone. _“Well what else is new?”_

“Thinks I don’t know what I want,”

_“Did you talk to him?”_

“Yeah,” He says, exasperated. “That’s why he thinks this now.”

Tom makes a considering noise. _“Maybe you should talk to him again. Like you said, he can be an idiot.”_

“Yeah,” He sighs. “I’ll see you at practice.” He hangs up before Tom can say goodbye. He sends Julian a quick text asking why he left before making his way to his bathroom, setting his phone down on the sink counter.

He doesn’t expect Julian to text him back, but that doesn’t stop him from glancing at his phone as he brushes his teeth. He feels like an idiot, because isn’t this what he wanted? To have space? So why does it feel like something is missing now.

He phone chimes and he nearly chokes on his toothpaste in his rush to get to it.

 

**From: Jules  
** **Shower and fresh clothes**

 

And, yeah, that makes sense, but Julian could’ve showered here, most likely with Danny, and they’re practically the same size, there’s bound to be clothes that fit him. He knows (well, he’s 96% sure) that Julian thinks that he needs space, thinks that he sees the alpha the same way he saw Sam. Which, he does, kind of, but he doesn’t think Julian is gonna backhand him in the locker room after they lose a game.

He sighs, maybe he’s missing something.

/////

Julian feels bad that he just left while Danny was on the phone, he feels worse when he gets a text that asks why he left, but he assumed Danny would’ve told him to leave anyway. By just leaving he saved himself the rejection of being told to leave. At least, that’s what he’s telling himself.

He’s pulling on a shirt when his phone starts to ring. It’s Tom and he thinks about not answering, but picks it up after going through the pros and cons of ignoring it.

“Hey, Tommy,”

 _“Are you with Danny?”_ Which is kinda abrupt and blunt even for Tom.

“Um, no, why?” He asks, frowning a little.

_“Oh. Were you with him earlier?”_

“Yeah, can I ask why again?”

 _“Was he okay?”_ He asks, ignoring Julian’s question.

Julian runs a hand through his still damp hair. “He was alright. He calmed down in the locker room and I took him home. He seemed back to normal when he woke up. Hey, um, why not call to ask him yourself?”

There’s a slight pause, before, _“I did, he didn’t answer. I think he was on the phone with someone else when I called,”_

“Um, alright. You can probably call him now, he texted me so he’s probably off the phone,”

_“He texted you? Why’d you leave?”_

“What is this, Twenty Questions?” He asks, exasperated. “Yes he texted me and I left because he wanted me to leave,”

There’s some rustling over the line. _“He did? Did he tell you he wanted you to leave?”_

That makes him pause. “Well. No, but we had this conversation about shit that happened to him and he said he needed space sometimes. So that’s what I’m doing. Giving him space.”

 _“But he didn’t tell you he wanted to you leave, so he probably didn’t want you to leave,”_ Tom points out.

“Maybe sometimes he needs to have some space, even if he doesn’t want to,”

Tom scoffs. _“Alright, that didn’t make sense, but how do you know if he needs space or not?"_

He sighs. “Because he doesn’t know what he needs right now,”

_“And you do?”_

“No,” Julian says quickly.

 _“You sure?”_ Tom asks and Julian can see the face he’s probably pulling. _“Because you sure are acting like you do.”_

“I don’t, but it’s... _complicated_.” He sighs. “Look, I know what I’m doing -”

_“You’re being an idiot.”_

“I know what I’m doing.” He repeats. “Is that all you needed?”

Tom sighs, long and frustrated. _“Yes. I’ll see you at practice.”_

“Yeah, bye.” He hangs up and sighs again. Maybe he shouldn’t have left, Danny did tell him that he knew what he wanted, but does he? He sounded so sad and exhausted explaining to Julian what happened with the Rams and Sam. No, he was right to leave, give the omega some space, give them both time to think a little bit.

His phone goes off again and he groans, answering it quickly. “What now, Tom?”

 _“Um…”_ And, oh, that’s not Tom.

“Wes?”

_“Yeah, sorry, are you expecting Tom to call you? Because -”_

“No, no,” Julian says, cutting him off. “Um, why are you calling me?”

Wes chuckles, nervous.  _"_ _I wanted to apologize,”_

The alpha frowns. “And it’s me you should be apologizing to?”

 _“No, well, yeah, but.”_ Wes sighs. _“I need to apologize to Danny too, I know, and I will, but I need to apologize to you too.”_

“Alright, so apologize,” He says. He doesn’t know if he wants this conversation to last longer or if he wants it to end.

 _“Look, can we - I’m still in Boston. I was hoping I could maybe see you or something. Explain some things._ ” Wes explains.

Julian glances at the clock. “I have to go to practice,”

_“What about after?”_

He bites his lip, thinking. He wants to talk to Wes, he wants to understand why he just disconnected after leaving, and he misses his friend. “Yeah, alright. I’m done at one, we can get lunch or something. Meet me at the complex.”

 _“Really?”_ Wes asks, surprised. _“Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks.”_

“Don’t thank me yet,” Julian warns.

The beta huffs a small laugh. _“You’re right. I’ll see you then.”_

“Later.” Julian hangs up and smiles. Maybe Wes will finally tell him what happened to him, maybe they can be _friends_ again - but, shit. Danny wouldn’t want him to go out to see Wes, especially after what happened on the field. Fuck.

At practice, neither him or Danny act like anything happened that morning, both pretending like everything is fine and like they can’t feel the tension between them. Tom keeps giving him looks throughout practice, practically yelling about what an idiot he’s being with just his eyes. He avoids looking at Tom as much as possible.

Danny asks if he wants to get lunch after practice and Julian says maybe because he still doesn’t know what to say to the omega about Wes and that whole situation. They’re just friends, he knows they’re just friends and will never be something more, but he knows the omega won’t see it that way.

\\\\\\\\\

Danny’s wishes of Julian acting normal are granted, but there’s a tension around them now and he doesn’t like it. It makes the anxiety in his chest harden a little bit because maybe Julian isn’t okay with what their relationship is now. Maybe Julian doesn’t want to wait around for him. Which would be fine - well, it wouldn’t be fine, but then at least Danny would _know_.

Tom stops him in the locker room before he goes to find Julian.

“Hey, wanna grab lunch or something?” The alpha asks.

“Um, maybe. I was gonna go see if Jules wanted to,” Danny answers, subtly looking around for the blonde.

Tom smiles. “That’s fine. I gotta check with Bill about something, so come find me if you change your mind or something.”

“Yeah, totally.” He nods, smiling, and walks around the him to find Julian. He finds him in the front lobby past the offices talking to someone. “Hey, Jules,” He calls and freezes. “And, uh…” Because Wes Welker is standing there and he’s already bristling, his wolf growling at the potential threat.

“Hey,” Wes says quietly. “I came to apologize.”

Danny’s eyebrows shoot up. “Apologize?”

The beta nods. “Yes. About last night. I was...way over line,” He sighs a little. “I let my emotions get the better of me and wanted, I dunno, petty, jealous revenge or something.”

“Uh, well,” Danny stutters. He’s surprised more than anything, trying to make his wolf relax because Wes seems to be genuine. “That’s...thanks. I’m sorry too, for -” He glances at Wes’ split lip and bruised chin. “- you know.”

Wes chuckles. “Don’t apologize, I deserved it. I am sorry, about how I acted and about your eye.”

Danny waves him off, wanting to accept the apology and then have Wes leave. “Is that why you came down here?”

“Partly, I came so me and Julian could get lunch.”

And _oh_ , that’s kind of a punch to the gut. He looks over at the alpha who looks a little guilty.

“Yeah,” Julian says, avoiding Danny’s eyes. “That’s why I couldn’t go to lunch with you,”

“Oh, did you guys have plans? Shit, I didn’t mean to -” Wes starts, eyes wide and apologetic.

“No, no,” Danny says quickly, pulling his eyes off of the alpha. “It was more of a spur of the moment thing,” He clears his throat awkwardly. “It was...um, thanks for coming by to apologize.”

Wes smiles at him. “I needed to. I was an asshole.”

Danny forces a small laugh, looking back over at Julian who still isn’t looking at him. “I gotta go find Tom.” He dismisses them with a small wave, turning back to go find Tom.

He turns the corner and leans against the wall, pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes. He winces when it makes his bruise throb, but he keeps pushing until he sees bursts of color. He’s fine. He is. He’s fine that his boyfriend is going to see the person who punched him in the face. He’s fine that his boyfriend is going out to lunch with a person who has a crush on him. He’s fine that his boyfriend decided to not tell him about it.

He’s fine.

He’s not crushingly upset because that would be stupid, he’s the one who said he needed space, he’s not allowed to act like a jealous boyfriend. Which is good, because he’s _not_ jealous. He’s _fine._

He jumps when a hand lands on his shoulder and he takes his hands away from his face, looking up to find Tom.

“Is everything okay?” Tom asks, a worried frown on his face. “I saw Wes,”

“It’s fine, he came to apologize about last night,” Danny explains. “Him and Julian have to talk about some things, I guess,” He tries and fails to smile. “You still wanna do lunch?”

Tom’s still frowning, but he nods and slides his arm around his shoulders. “We can go back to my place, Gisele is taking the kids to a photo shoot she’s doing, but she’ll be happy to see you before they leave.”

He leans into the alpha  little and nods, only sort of listening to what Tom’s saying. “That’s fine,”

“Did you drive here?”

“No, I came here Steve. Thought I was gonna leave with Julian,” Danny says, voice cracking a little at the end.

Tom smiles gently at him and leads them to his car. “Come on.”

The ride is quiet, Tom humming quietly along with the radio. He wonders if Wes will actually admit his feelings for Julian instead of just very obviously alluding to them. He stops those thoughts quickly, scared they’ll turn into Julian returning those feelings and then realizing that there’s someone who likes him who he doesn’t have to wait around for.

Gisele is in the driveway, kids buckled into the car already. Tom kisses Gisele hello and goes over to see his kids, leaving Danny and the other alpha with each other.

“Oh, _amado_ ,” Gisele says softly, cupping his face in her hands, inspecting the bruise. “I saw what happened, you look tired, are you okay?”

He hums. “Yeah, it looks worse than it is,”

She pulls him into a hug and he’s enveloped in the scent of fresh flowers in bloom. It’s comforting and he sighs softly and shuts his eyes. She pulls back after a minute, smiling at him, and he’s struck by just how gorgeous she is.

“You’re gonna be just fine, _amado_ _,”_ She reassures. “ _Isso vai passar_.”

He smiles up at her even though the last words are lost on him. Tom comes over to them. “Ben wants to say hi to you,” He tells the omega.

Danny’s smile widens a fraction and he nods, following Tom to the car. “Hey, buddy,” He coos to the little alpha, Vivian sleeping in her own car seat next to his.

Ben smiles wide. “Hi, Mr. Danny! Did you catch lots of footballs?”

“I did, your dad threw a lot of footballs to me,”

Ben flails his arms excitedly. “He did!” He frowns then. “What happened to your face?”

“Ben,” Tom says sternly. “That’s not polite.”

“Oh. Sorry, Mr. Danny,” He apologizes.

“It’s alright, little guy,” Danny says, rustling his hair. “I heard you’re going with your mom to a photoshoot,”

Ben’s face lights up again. “Yeah! She’s gonna teach me how to use a camera!”

“Is she? You’ll have to teach me when you get back.” He decides, making Ben somehow smile wider.

“Yeah!” Ben agrees, bouncing slightly in his car seat.

“Alright, _anjos_ , time to go.” Gisele announces, sliding into the driver’s seat. She gives him and Tom one more smile before backing out of the driveway. Tom gives a little, wistful sigh, watching them leave and he wonders if that’s what it’s like to be in love.

Tom leads him into his house. “So, what was Wes doing here?” He asks, pulling various vegetables out from the fridge.

He shrugs a shoulder. “He came to apologize, which he did, and I guess he and Julian talked sometime before because they had lunch plans,” He falls into one of the stools at the island. “I don’t know when they made the plans,”

“Wasn’t he with you today?” Tom asks.

“In the morning, yeah. He left when I was on the phone with you,” He leans his head against his elbow. “Do you know what they have to talk about?”

Tom shrugs. “No, but I’m sure it’s nothing bad. Wes is a good guy, even if he does let his emotions get the better of him sometimes,”

Danny thinks maybe if he and Wes met in literally any other circumstance, things would be different. Maybe they’d be friends or something. “I wonder if that’s why he left so abruptly this morning,”

“Yeah, what happened?” Tom asks.

He sighs and explains, from what happened in St. Louis with Sam Bradford to the conversation he had with Julian to what happened this morning. “So maybe he said he was okay with it when he really wasn’t,” He concludes.

Tom hums, stirring whatever he’s making on the stove. “Julian doesn’t usually say things he doesn’t mean.”

“Well he’s acting like I don’t know what I want.” He complains, huffing in frustration.

“What _do_ you want?” Tom asks gently.

Danny pauses, thinking. “I...I want Julian, but I…” He frowns. “I sometimes still think of Sam and what happened and then I get freaked out,” He sighs. “If I was Julian, I wouldn’t want to wait around for me either. People should just ignore me like they did before, I’m not worth all this.”

Tom frowns at him, turning the stove off to come sit next to him. “Hey, no, you are. And Jules thinks you are too,”

“Does he?” Danny asks desperately. “Because he left.”

“I know and I don’t know why he did. He has this tendency to think he knows what’s best sometimes, so maybe you really gotta drill it in his head.” Tom jokes.

Danny gives him a halfhearted smile. “Thanks.”

Tom smiles back and rustles his hair. “No problem, kid.” He gets back up to finish making lunch and their conversation turns to other sports.

\\\\\\\\\

Julian doesn’t know what he was expecting for the talk with Wes. He doesn’t expect to spill out what’s been going on with Danny and how it’s making him confused and a little bit frustrated and he doesn’t expect Wes to ask him why Danny looked so crestfallen earlier.

“Seriously,” Wes says. “He looked like you just told him you wanted to break up with him,” When Julian doesn’t say anything, Wes’ eyes widen. “Oh my god, do you? Because, dude, that’s - you have to tell him if you do, you can’t just string him along.”

“I’m not stringing him along,” Julian denies, rolling his eyes. “I like him a lot, but I don’t know if he likes me, so I’m wondering if maybe I should break up with him before we ruin our entire relationship,”

“And breaking up with him won’t ruin it anyway?” Wes asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Then what am I supposed to do? Let our relationship burn out until he breaks up with me and our relationship gets shot in the the fucking leg?” He huffs, crossing his arms. “This way maybe there’s something that can get salvaged. Besides, why do you care?”

There’s a look hurt that flashes across the beta’s face. “Because you’re my friend and I want you to be happy and Danny seems to make you happy.”

“Danny doesn’t seem to know what he wants.” Julian says quietly. “Like, he says he likes me but he acts like he can’t stand to be around me sometimes. He’s avoided me for days at a time before,”

“He’s probably scared, dumbass,” Wes points out. “He’s probably scared that you’re gonna walk out on him so he’s already distancing himself from you,”

“I wouldn’t though, I _told him_ I wouldn’t,”

Wes narrows his eyes. “Um, you literally did this morning.”

“Okay, yeah, I did, but it was because he probably would’ve asked me to leave anyway.” Julian says and then sighs. “I dunno, I like him, but I don’t want to force him to like me,” His eyes flutter shut. “And it’s exhausting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like,” He waves a hand. “So he explained everything to me, right? And I understood, I wanted to be there for him, but then for the next three days I barely see him and then we’re playing you guys and he’s right back to acting like he likes me again.” He lets out a long breath. “I still want to be there for him, but I can’t if he won’t let me.”

Wes’ face softens. “You have to tell him that then. You were upset when he ignored you, so imagine how he’ll feel if you start ignoring him.”

“I don’t want to tell him all that,” Julian admits. “I don’t want to make him feel bad.”

“He’ll feel bad if you don’t tell him. Just talk to him.” Wes pleads, eyes wide. “You’re making yourself miserable.”

Julian clenches his jaw before relenting and nodding. “Yeah, alright. But if everything goes wrong, I get to blame you.”

Wes waves him off. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now food because I’m starving.”

\\\\\\\\\

A week and a half goes by of them both pretending to be fine around each other. Danny acts like all the headlines of _Julian and Wes_ and the articles full of bullshit assumptions aren’t bothering him and like he can’t tell that the smiles Julian has been giving him are media smiles.

They lose to the Packers which has Tom lecturing all of them about how every play needs to be perfect because if they aren’t, they’ll lose games they should’ve won. It freaks Danny out a little, paranoia of old locker rooms knocking at his mind, but Julian puts an arm around him and he relaxes.

When Tom is done talking, Julian takes his arm off his shoulders. “Hey,” Danny says, grabbing the alpha’s wrist. “Can we talk?”

Julian looks surprised. “Yeah. Your place?”

He nods and then Julian is walking away, leaving him with slightly slumped shoulders. He was hoping for maybe a genuine smile or a glimpse of how they used to be, but he supposes getting Julian to talk wasn’t too bad.

 

Julian’s already at his house when he pulls up and he’s struck with deja vu as he leads the alpha into the house.

“So -”

“I -”

Julian’s lips twitch into a small smile. “You go first, you’re the one who wanted to talk,”

Danny smiles quickly, before, “Are we okay?”

“What? Yeah, of course,” Julian answers. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Maybe because for the past week we’ve both been walking on eggshells around each other?” He suggests. “Or maybe because you’ve been giving me media smiles lately?”

Said media smile slides off Julian’s face and he sighs. “Alright, yeah. We need to talk,”

Danny scoffs and crosses his arms. “Yeah, that’s what I said,”

“No, I mean _we need to talk_ ,” Julian says again, emphasizing his words and Danny frowns. “What you told me about, I kind of get it, I want to be there for you, but you’ll avoid me for days at a time - which is fine,” He quickly adds. “I get you need that, but then you’re back to normal and we’re dating again for a week until you’re gone again.” He sighs. “I want to be there for you, but I can’t if you won’t let me.”

Danny swallows past the lump that has suddenly appeared in his throat. “I...um,” He clears his throat. “I know,” He finally says.

Julian is quiet for a minute, jaw clenched. “I think we want - _need_ different things right now,”

“What?”

“You...you need time to heal and get over what happened and I get that, I do, but I need to feel like we’re dating and I don’t all the time,” His hands are clenched into fists. “I just think it’s best if we took a break for a little while, just to - just to think things through.” He explains.

Danny can feel the hot sting of tears pricking the backs of his eyes. “You can’t just...you can’t just _decide_ you know what’s best,”

Julian rolls his eyes. “Well it’s not like you know what you want!”

“That’s not fair! I can’t just snap my fingers and forget everything that’s happened and just ride with you off into the sunset!” He yells, taking a step towards the alpha.

“I know you can’t, I’m not asking you to!” Julian yells back. “I’m saying that we should take a break so you can recover from it!”

“You said you wouldn’t walk away.”

“I’m not walking away.”

“What the fuck are you doing then?!” Danny asks.

“Doing what’s best!”

He scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, and you always know what’s fucking best!” He hisses. “You sure you didn’t just see Wes -”

“Don’t,” Julian warns, eyes growing dark.

“ - and realize there’s someone else that you don’t have to wait for?” Danny spits out, staring the alpha down.

“Don’t fucking pull him into this, he didn’t do anything.” Julian growls.

“Are you fucking serious? He punched me in the face because he was jealous!” Danny exclaims. His wolf is whining at him, confused if Julian is a real threat or not.

“You were provoking him!”

A pang of betrayal shoots through him, making him flinch. “Why’re you defending him? He came out onto the field when he wasn’t supposed to just to call me a whore!”

Julian takes a breath. “This isn’t about him. This is about you and me.”

“It seems like it’s mostly about you and you apparently knowing what’s best for everyone!” Danny shouts, rolling his eyes, letting a tear slip free.

Julian shakes his head. “I think I should leave,”

And Danny feels something _crack_ in him and he grabs Julian’s shirt, looking him in the eyes, Tyler’s words ringing in his head; _you gotta let yourself open up_. “I like you,” He whispers. “A lot, and it scares me. I’m not supposed to need anyone, I’m not supposed to need an alpha because if I do they’ll just take what they want and then leave. There’s a lot I’m not supposed to want or need, and it’s gonna take time for me to accept that I can, but I want _you_.” His voice cracks, more tears sliding down his face. “Please.”

Julian’s eyes flick back and forth between his own and he feels like he’s stripped bare, all of him open and vulnerable for Julian to accept or push away, but he gets it now. He gets that it’s okay to want or need things, he can stop pushing so hard against his instincts like he thought he needed to do. He can open his heart back up a little bit and trust that this alpha won’t hurt it.  

Right when it seems like Julian’s not going to say _anything_ , there’s a pair of lips crashing against his. He makes a small sound in the back of his throat, eyes fluttering shut, and he pulls Julian closer.

His eyes are still shut when the alpha pulls back and he’s terrified because he doesn’t want to fight with someone he loves and - oh. That’s new. New and even more terrifying.

“Please don’t leave,” He whispers. “I…” He wants to say it. “I...I love you, please don’t leave.”

“I’m not,” Julian says, pressing kisses everywhere on his face. “I’m not, I promise. God, I love you too and I’m sorry.”

Danny shakes his head. “Don’t be sorry, just don’t leave.” He presses impossibly closer to Julian, wanting his scent everywhere and he’s broken. He’s laying in a pile of small pieces with jagged edges and he’s okay because this time he’s not sprawled out on a locker room floor alone. He’s with Julian, who he _loves_ and who, somehow, loves him back, and it’s so much better and brighter than it was with Sam.

“I love you. I’m not going anywhere.” Julian whispers and Danny is okay because this time those three words aren’t said after he’s been backhanded.

He’s okay because maybe Julian will be able to help him finally put his jagged pieces back together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Amado_ \- Sweetheart  
>  _Isso vai passar_ \- This will pass  
>  _Anjos_ \- Angels  
>  Portuguese taken from google translate, so feel free to correct me.  
> I love comments! And criticism! Well, not really, but I appreciate it.  
> [Come find me on tumblr!](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com)


	10. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up yesterday, but I spent yesterday hungover, so, it's late, sorry. Also, like, poor Danny. I'm so sorry. 
> 
> Trigger warning! I know I said there wouldn't be any abuse, and there isn't really any domestic violence, but if violence triggers you, please take caution!!

Things change between them after that night; Danny is less scared of being around Julian, his nightmares don’t come as often and they’re learning to ignore media and loaded questions. They click on the field better than ever and by week 13, they’re 8 - 2. 

They play at St. Louis next and that’s all the questions seem to be about after their win over the Dolphins.

“How do you feel about going back to St. Louis?” One reporter asks, recorder held close.

He pauses, thinking. “It’ll be a tough game for sure, they’re a good team.”

“Is there any...extra motivation for that game?”

“We wanna go down there to win, obviously, but it’s just like any other regular season game.”

“So there’s really no bad blood between you and the Rams?” Another reporter asks.

“I mean, it’s always tough being traded, but I was excited when I came to New England.” He responds. His heart is starting to speed up and he hopes no one asks him about Sam or any of the other players.

Another reporter goes to ask a question, but Julian is there next to him suddenly, pulling him away. “Sorry, gonna have to steal him though,” He says, flashing the reporters a smile. Danny goes with him, relieved more than anything at getting away from the questions and cameras. “Are you okay?” Julian asks.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” He lies. Julian gives him a look and Danny’s shoulders slump. “The questions made me nervous, but I’ll be fine.” He gives Julian a reassuring smile.

Julian frowns at him, clearly unconvinced, but he lets it go. “If you’re sure.”

He nods, pressing a kiss to the alpha’s lips. It gets Julian to smile too and he pushes closer to him, sighing happily when arms wrap around his waist.

He’ll be fine, he’s played at worse places (Buffalo and Indianapolis flash in his mind), and Julian will be with him. Danny isn’t going to let anything happen to himself, but if something similar to Denver happens, he knows the alpha won’t let anything happen to him either. So yes, he’ll be fine.

\-----

He isn’t fine. He’s terrified because this is the first time since he was traded stepping back into the Dome and the old anxiety of being slapped around is creeping up on him again. 

Tom tells him before that if he needs to, he doesn’t have to play. And while Danny appreciates his quarterback’s concern for him, he’s not going to sit out just because he has some bad memories.

So he plays in the game, a game they end up losing by a touchdown, and afterwards when Sam Bradford grabs his attention on the field asking him to talk, he, for some reason, says yes.

He ends up in the Rams’ locker room and he has the brief thought that maybe he should’ve thought this through a little more, or tell someone where he was going.

He manages to send a text to Julian telling him he was in the home team’s locker room talking to an old teammate. He doesn’t specify who, but Julian texts back saying he’ll meet him over there after he changes.

The door opens again and Sam is walking through and Danny shoves his phone into his pocket quickly, hoping the alpha didn’t see it. What can he say, old habits die hard.

“So, you wanted to talk?” Danny asks as greeting.

“I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy,” Sam says back, abrupt and surprisingly genuine.

He blinks up at the alpha, surprised. “Oh, um, yeah, thanks,”

Sam looks wistful as he smiles at him. “I did love you, you know,”

Danny feels some kind of love or hate or anger or  _ something _ because Sam isn’t allowed to say that now. Not now after Danny’s walked away, not after Danny’s found someone else who makes him happier. 

“You can’t just say that shit. You fucked me up and I  _ loved you _ \- sometimes I think I still do, I don’t know if that’ll ever fully leave, but I moved on. I have Julian now, who doesn’t, you know, slap me around in the locker room.” He says the last part bitterly, feeling a small amount of satisfaction when the alpha flinches.

“I’ve changed,” Sam insists, eyes round. “I miss you.” He admits quietly.

Part of Danny feels bad because Sam was his first love and there will always be some place in his heart for him. “I’m sorry,” He finally says. “I can’t help you with that.”

“But I’ve changed,” Sam says again, pleading. “I changed for you.”

Danny shakes his head. “And maybe if you changed a year ago, thing could’ve been different, but I didn’t ask you to change now.”

Sam takes a step closer and Danny can smell the pine scent that he used to love. A hand caresses his face and suddenly he feels like he’s twenty one again and in love with Sam Bradford, thinking that this pine scent would be the only one he’d ever need.

“Come back, I miss you so much.”

Danny swallows past the small lump in his throat. “I miss you too,” He admits. 

Sam moves closer and Danny has to tilt his head back to look up at him, back pressed against the lockers. He remembers nights like these from the beginning, gentle touches and empty promises that filled him with twisted love and false hope. 

When Sam dips his head, he snaps back to reality and he side steps away from the alpha. “What are you doing?”

“Well I was trying to kiss you,” Sam responds like it’s obvious.

Danny laughs nervously and inches away further away from the alpha. “Um, why?”

Sam gives him a puzzled look. “You just said you missed me,”

“That doesn’t mean I want you to kiss me, what the hell?” Danny sighs. “Look, I should go. Thanks though, I guess.” He turns to leave, but Sam is grabbing his arm and wrenching him back.

“Listen you fucking bitch. You’re nothing without me, without this team. You  _ lost  _ today, do you think that your alpha isn’t gonna be pissed at you?” Sam hisses.

Danny frowns. “Fuck you,” He tries to pull his arm from the alpha’s grip, flinching when the grip tightens.

“How did you even get this far, huh?” Sam asks. He slips his other hand around to grip at the back of Danny’s neck, squeezing harshly.

Shivers zing down Danny’s spine and his struggles halften. He thrashes his head forward, starting to panic. Sam presses closer still and he whines high in his throat. Memories of bruises and degradation set in and, despite the anger in him, he can feel himself start to shake. “ _ Let go _ .” He pleads.

“Come back.” Sam counters easily.

He shakes his head as much as he can. “I can’t.”

Sam growls. “You  _ can _ . You know what you’d need to say to do it,” When Danny shakes his head again, his eyes flash and flick down to his neck. “He hasn’t even bonded with you yet,” He observes, tilting his head curiously.

Danny’s eyes widen. “Even  _ you _ wouldn’t force a bond,” He says, panicked. He manages to push his thumb against the wrist held against his neck and Sam takes his hand away, hissing. He books it to the door, needing to just  _ get out _ . 

A hand grabs his arm, yanking him back and his yelp turns into a sharp cry when he feels his shoulder joint pop. It’s been a long time since Danny has had a dislocated shoulder, but the feeling is still too familiar.

Sam lets go of his arm, taking a step back, and with no one supporting Danny’s weight, he lands on the floor, head knocking hard against the ground. He rolls onto his right side, cradling his left arm tight to his body. His vision is dotted with spots and as he tries to blink them away, memories of St. Louis flood him and he’s left gasping, suddenly more scared than he’s been in a very long time because he feels like he’s twenty one again, being punished after a bad loss.

He sees Sam’s shoes step in front of him through half lidded eyes and he whimpers, trying to curl into himself. He thinks Sam’s saying - shouting - something at him and his whimpers grow louder, trying to appease the angry alpha in front of him.

There’s another pair of shoes in front of him, and then another pair, and the shouting gets louder. He wonders if it’s one of the rookies trying to help him, thinking that they could possibly stand up to Sam, their alpha quarterback. He appreciates it nonetheless because it gives him a breather, a break before Sam starts at him again.

But something’s wrong. Sam’s shoes are disappearing from view along with one of the others and then there’s someone crouching down next to him, brushing the hair from his forehead. He flinches away from the person who has begun to talk to him.

“- okay? Danny, ‘Dola, hey, what happened?”

And it’s...someone. Someone Danny knows because the smell of beaches makes him relax and he lets out a shuddering breath.

“Hurts,” He rasps out. “Shoulder,”

“Fuck, are you - is it dislocated? Shit,  _ Tom _ !” 

And he knows that name, knows the honeyed whiskey scent that’s in front of him. The scents make him feel safe and when the two alphas manage to sit him up, blue eyes are the first things he sees.

“Tom, goddammit, we have to get him to medical to get his shoulder back in place,”

“We can’t just move him, look at him, he’s barely even there. He’s dropped far,”

“So then we get the medical team to come to us!”

One of the alphas leave and Danny is left with the one who smells like beaches. He flinches when the alpha leans forward towards him. He keeps staring into the blue eyes and he opens and closes his mouth a couple times, trying to say something -  _ anything _ . “...I...alpha?”

“It’s me, Julian,”

The name is familiar too and he can see crinkle eyed smiles, navy uniforms, and silver helmets. Not St. Louis colors, New England colors. Did they play the Patriots? He can’t remember, can’t seem to remember anything past the fear suffocating him.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I should’ve gotten here sooner,” The alpha apologizes.

The other alpha comes back with a couple of other betas behind him. They all have worried looks on their faces and he whines, shrinking back a little. One of the betas crouches down next to him and carefully grabs his arm, making him whimper. 

“They’re just gonna put your shoulder back in place,”

He whimpers again and tries to shift away from the beta holding his arm, but all he succeeds in doing is pulling on his arm harder, making it throb. “Hurts.” 

“I know, that’s why they’re here, okay?” The alpha looks at him with concerned eyes, willing the omega to calm down so they can fix his shoulder.

Danny looks at him, his own eyes wide, and then relaxes slightly. He’s still shaking, but the scent of sandy beaches is slowly calming him down. His breathing starts to speed up when the beta grips his arm again, getting ready to set it back in place.

He tenses when the beta starts to move his arm and then chokes on a cry, eyes rolling back. His vision turns black around the edges and then fades entirely when they set his arm back in place.

\----- 

Danny blinks his eyes open to bright lights shining down at him. His arm still feels bruised and and sore and he groans, looking around the room carefully. 

There’s shuffling next to him and then a voice, “Hey, ‘Dola, you’re awake,” It’s Julian and he sounds relieved and tired.

He turns his head. “Hey,” He clears his throat and tries again. “Hey, where am I?”

“Hospital,” Julian answers. “You passed out for a few hours when they set your shoulder back in place,”

He groans again. “My shoulder was dislocated again?” Which makes sense in why his shoulder hurts.

“What do you mean ‘again’?” Julian asks, brows furrowed.

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny waves him off. “What happened?”

Julian opens his mouth to protest but then pauses, confused. “You don’t remember what happened?”

He shakes his head. “No. Apparently my shoulder got dislocated. I remember talking to Sam and he tried to kiss me? And then I tried to leave and...I can’t remember after that,”

“Oh,” Julian says, sighing. “I said I would meet you after I changed. I heard you shouting so I got Tom and we went in and you were on the ground with Sam above you,”

“Fuck,” Danny says quietly, starting to remember their conversation. “He said that he, um, missed me and I said I missed him too,” He sits up a little and rubs the back of his neck. “He wanted me to come back, but I...I didn’t want to, he got mad, he - he sounded like he was gonna force bond with me,” He glances over at Julian and sees how the alpha is shaking slightly, angry. “It’s alright,” He reassures.

“It’s not alright,” Julian protests. “He can’t just  _ do that _ ,”

“He didn’t do anything,” Danny says. “He just looked like he was gonna, I got his hands off me,”

“Yeah and then he dislocated your shoulder!”

He doesn’t have anything to say to that, so he just sighs, tired and hurt. “Sorry,”

“No, don’t - you don’t have to apologize,” Julian says quietly, grabbing his hand. “You’re, you’re okay, right?”

“I’m fine,” He assures. “Really. Nothing happened. You got there in time,” 

“But I didn’t!” Julian denies. “Your shoulder was fucking dislocated and you dropped so hard that you didn’t even remember what happened!”

“I’m fine,” He repeats. “I’m just...he said he just wanted to talk and I thought,” He shrugs. “I just thought he was gonna apologize and then...I don’t know,”

Julian’s eyes soften. “Hey, I’m sorry,” He moves closer to the omega, grabbing his hand between his own. “I was just scared, I got there and you had no idea who me or Tom were,”

Danny sighs again and can feel his eyes sting. “It was nothing, I was stupid to think that he wanted to just talk.” He shakes his head. “Can I leave then?”

“Um, yeah, I think. I can go get the nurse to see,”

He hums in agreement and Julian gives him a small smile before leaving the room. His phone is on the small table next to him, so he grabs it and sees he has a few messages from Tom and one from Sam.

**From: Sam  
** **I’m sorry.**

He frowns and deletes the message. He’s sick of being injured or hurt and he really just wants everything to go back to normal. Well, nothing was really normal for him, but he wishes it was back to when no one paid attention to him and he could just play football.

Julian comes back and he wipes at his face with the back of his hand.

“We can get going,” Julian says in greeting.

He smiles up at the alpha and stands, happy he wasn’t changed into a hospital gown. He grabs onto Julian’s hand, interlacing their fingers, feeling instantly a little safer.

“Thank you for being here when I woke up.” He says quietly.

Julian squeezes his hand and smiles. “Where else would I be?”

The nurse smiles at them and puts his arm in a sling, telling him that he needs to keep that on for the next week. He’s thankful that they have their second bye week next and he can hopefully avoid people.

“Hey, come on, you wanna go back to your place?” 

“Yes, please.”

 

The car ride is mostly silent apart from the radio softly playing and Danny spends it looking out the window at the lights passing by. He’s so...tired these days and for the first time in years, he’s just...he feels hollow. Maybe he shouldn’t be in the NFL, enough people out there seem to think so, maybe he’s just delaying the inevitable.

He sighs and it causes Julian to glance over at him. “You okay?” 

“‘M fine,” He hums, still gazing out the window. There’s a couple walking on the sidewalk and he sighs again. “Just tired.”

Julian doesn’t say anything so Danny lets his head rest against the window, eyes shutting. He can feel the slight tension in the air so he says, “You can ask, you know,”

Julian doesn’t say anything for a minute, and then, “Ask about what?”

“Anything. Why my shoulder’s been dislocated more than once, why I still think Sam might change at some point, why I’m even bothering trying to hope,”

“Do you want to tell me?” The alpha asks gently.

“No. Yes. I don’t know, I just figured you’d ask so I wouldn’t have to bring it up,” He answers. And it’s stupid, he knows, because how is Julian supposed to know that it’s okay to ask these things, let alone know Danny wanted him to even ask?

“Well,” Julian starts. “How many times has your shoulder been dislocated?”

Danny finally turns back to look at the alpha. “A couple times. Once because of a bad fall on the field, another because Sam thought I was out of line. It hasn’t happened in a long time,” He huffs out a small, hollow laugh. “I don’t need a fucking sling for it though. It’ll be fine in a few days,”

Julian has a strained look on his face, but doesn’t comment further on it, instead asking, “Do you want me to come in with you?”

Danny looks up to see that they’ve arrived back at his house. “Yes.” He says without hesitation.

The alpha nods and helps him out of the car and up to the front door. He lets Danny open the door on his own and then bends down to kiss him before they enter. “I love you.” He whispers.

“I love you too.” Danny says, smiling softly.

They wrap themselves up in one another on the bed and Danny pretends that this won’t be in the paper tomorrow. He hides his face in Julian’s chest and pretends like his shoulder is the only thing that’s bothering him.

“You’re gonna be alright, you know that, right?” Julian asks quietly, running his fingers through the omega’s hair.

“So I’ve heard,”

Julian makes a noise in the back of his throat. “Seriously. There’s people here who care about you.” 

Danny doesn’t say anything, just presses a kiss to the underside of Julian’s jaw and curls up tighter around him, hoping that by tomorrow everything would just somehow, magically, be back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I miss football.   
> Feel free to yell at me about mistakes and errors, or leave a nice comment, either one works for me. :)  
> [Come stalk me on tumblr](http://www.exterminatorviolence.tumblr.com)


	11. Divisional Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exchange of bodily fluids.
> 
>  
> 
> And some other stuff too like the divisional round of the playoffs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from Wisconsin with a chapter! Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner, I just got a job so I'm filling out some paperwork with that and there's some other life stuff going on, but I'm still cranking out paragraphs every night.

Danny doesn’t know what to do. Part of him wants to continue to play football because he loves it and another part of him wants to stop playing because then at least he’d stop getting asked question after question about whatever shitty drama has happened to him last. 

Maybe he’d find some nice alpha to settle down with like other omegas he’s heard about. An alpha who has some kind of respectable job and who doesn’t smell like sandy beaches. He’d live some kind of normal life with a capable alpha and a normal job...it makes him depressed just thinking about it.

But he thinks he might be a little depressed when he thinks about his life now, his life of having the wrong kind of spotlight on him, seemingly all the time. He figures that, at least, he doesn’t question his relationship with Julian anymore - confident, finally, that he knows what he wants, that he wants Julian wholly and completely. It’s a good feeling, a little bit weird, but good nonetheless.

Maybe he’s just been lucky all his life and he’s too spoiled to appreciate when life is just  _ alright _ and not fantastic. Maybe he just needs to try harder, focus less on whatever is happening around him and just  _ be _ for once, enjoy that he gets to play a game that he loves, enjoy that he gets to do it with great people and someone he loves.

Surprisingly, the whole ordeal with Sam goes under the radar. Danny figures it’s because the quarterback was still too scared of people knowing he had a thing for the only omega in the league. The reason doesn’t matter to Danny, not anymore, and sure the alpha will always have some kind of fucked up place in his heart, but his chest doesn’t tighten with anxiety when he thinks of him anymore.

His shoulder takes a week to heal, but the doctors don’t give him the go ahead to play until the last game of the season against Miami. He wants to play the whole game, but he gets taken out in the second half along with most of the starters except for Tom because the alpha refuses to ever get off the field.

He’s beaming on the sideline, everyone is, and he presses as close as he can to Julian through their pads. The alpha’s scent is faint, muddled with a few others of the guys from the other team.

He gets asked a lot of questions about being the first omega in over a decade to get into the playoffs and for once, the questions don’t bother him because he’s  _ going to the playoffs _ and he’s going with Julian and it feels ten times better than anything he’s ever accomplished with Sam.

When all the questions are done they all make their way to the closest bar to celebrate their 13-3 record. They’re all drinking, Rob, unsurprisingly, downing the most, while Tom acts as the dad of the group, slowly nursing a single beer.

It’s hot in the bar and being pressed up against Julian on a crowded dance floor isn’t helping. Neither are the kisses him and Julian are exchanging, but the alpha’s lips are sticky sweet and the alcohol is making everything soft around the edges, so being a little too warm seems like a fair price to have Julian’s lips pressed up against his own.

They’ve already gotten a few cat calls from other teammates and he laughs when Julian flips them off.

“I’m proud of you,” Julian whispers against his lips.

He smiles and it’s not just the alcohol that makes his face flush. “We haven’t made it to the Super Bowl yet,”

“But we will.” The alpha promises. 

Danny appreciates the promise even if it’s one that Julian might not be able to keep. He groans when the alpha grinds their hips together.

“We should get out of here,” He suggests, mindful of the eyes that are on them. He wonders how Julian has managed to go this long without even remotely suggesting they do something in bed, or the couch, or the floor - wherever really.

Like Julian can read his mind, his blue eyes become a little more sober as he asks, “Are you sure?”

He hesitates for a second and maybe a week or two ago he might’ve changed his mind, but it’s not a week or two ago, it’s right now and right now he wants Julian’s dick in him like, yesterday. So he nods, licking his lips, hair damp and sticking standing up in a few different directions.

Julian smiles, heat coming back into his gaze, and kisses him all tongue and teeth, no finesse to it at all. It makes Danny’s heartbeat spike and he groans, pulling them in the direction of the exit.

They end up walking back to Julian’s, both a little too drunk and too preoccupied with each other to hail down a cab.

They more or less crash through the door and Danny gets pressed up against it when it shuts, lips still connected with the alpha’s. He’s already hard in his jeans and leaking slick like he’s a virgin.

“Come on, come on,” He mumbles against Julian’s lips, hands already trying to undo the other’s pants.

Julian grabs his wrists gently. “Hey, we don’t have to rush, we have all night,”

The promise behind those words makes heat pool in his stomach. Julian pulls him to the bedroom, shedding both their shirts, and falls with him onto the bed. Danny props himself up on his elbows and watches as the blonde slowly kisses his way down his body, pausing to suck a mark on his hip bone. 

They’re both mostly sober at this point and he whines in his throat as Julian slowly shimmies his jeans and underwear down his hips. Danny’s cock lays hard against his stomach and he’s fairly certain his boxers are ruined.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Julian says, gazing up at him.

Danny bites his lip to hide a smile and rolls his eyes. “You’ve already got me in your bed, you don’t have to flatter me,”

“Not flattering, ‘m telling the truth.” Julian insists, licking a stripe up his cock before Danny has a chance to give a rebuttal. “Now, I’ve kept my beard trimmed…” He trails with a cocked eyebrow.

“Trimmed, not shaved, I’m gonna get beard burn,” Danny protests, knowing exactly where the alpha is trying to go with this.

Julian sighs and the warm air hits Danny’s cock, making it twitch. “Come on, I’ll be real careful.” He promises with a smirk.

He sighs long and loud like he’s really debating it and not imagining the feel of Julian’s tongue in his ass. “I guess if you really want to.” He relents.

Julian’s smirk widens to a smile and he maneuvers them so Danny is on his knees, resting on his elbows with his back arched. He can feel slick running down his thigh and he shivers when Julian lays a kiss on the small of his back.

He squirms a bit and opens his mouth to say something like  _ hurry up before I sit on your face _ , but Julian seems to get the hint and then there’s Julian’s tongue licking a broad stripe across his hole making him shudder and bury his face into the pillow.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” He huffs out.

Julian breathes out a small laugh and then goes back at it, licking broad stripes across his hole until he’s shuddering and struggling to lean on his shoulders to push his hips back because  _ jesus christ _ , someone’s tongue should not be able to do something like this.

“You taste divine,” Julian comments.

When Danny looks over his shoulder at him, he finds the alpha smirking at him, chin shiny with slick and spit. He can only imagine  what his own face looks like, flushed with his lower lip swollen from where he’s been biting at it.

“‘Divine’ huh?” Danny asks breathlessly, more slick running down his thighs when Julian sends him a wink and traces a finger lightly over his rim. He shudders hard and his hole flutters, trying to suck the finger in.

His eyes flutter when Julian finally, finally sinks that finger in to the second knuckle. He chokes on his next breath when he feels that fucking tongue lapping at his rim again. He’s pretty sure he’s going to die because Julian’s finger is pressed up hard against his prostate and his tongue is fucking magical.

He can feel the roughness of Julian’s beard rub against one of his most sensitive places and he has a brief thought that he’s going to  _ kill _ the asshole because he knew he’d get beard burn.

The thought leaves as quick as it entered as Julian points his tongue and pushes it  _ inside _ him next to his finger. Julian is pushing his face harder against him to get his tongue  _ deeper _ , making his toes curl and eyes roll back into his head.

It seems to go on for hours, Julian basically making out with his ass, and he doesn’t realize he’s a hairbreadth away from coming until there are fingers tracing up his cock and lightly pinching the head.

“You’re so wet for me,” Julian says. “It’s like you’re in heat,” He sounds awed, like he’s surprised that he’s reduced Danny to this soaked state. He works his finger against Danny’s prostate, massaging just around it.

“Oh shit, shit,” Danny pants, squeezing his eyes shut, back arching and fingers scrabbling against the bed sheets. “‘M gonna come,”

“Yeah?” Julian rasps.

His back is arched like a cat’s. “Yeah - ahh -  _ fuck _ ,” He manages. “You gonna fuck me or what?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Julian says and Danny takes a little joy in how wrecked the alpha’s own voice is. “I could make you come just from this, huh,”

Danny doesn’t doubt that he could because he feels like he’s about to break apart in the best way possible. “Or you could  _ fuck me _ ,”

“I’ll do that after.” Julian says calmly like it’s obvious.

He goes to answer and cuts himself off with a gasp, something that he seems to be doing often tonight, when Julian gets two more fingers working him open along with his tongue. The hand on his cock tightens and he tenses, feels the coiled heat in his stomach lift and snap and then he’s coming, whimpering into his arm, hips jerking back.

He’s panting as Julian milks him through the aftershocks and then whines when he becomes too sensitive. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Jules  _ please _ ,”

Julian obliges, removing his fingers as well, and Danny lets his legs fall out from under him, laying flat on the bed, wincing when the soft fabric hits his cock.

Julian wipes his chin and shifts up on the bed, pressing soft kisses on his way. Danny lifts his face from where it’s buried in the sheets to peek up at Julian. “I’m gonna get beard burn,” He rasps out between heavy breaths. “It was worth it though,” He adds when Julian mock glares at him. “You gonna fuck me now or what?” 

“You good?” Julian asks, brows creasing in concern.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t,” Danny points out. “If you’re good enough, maybe I’ll even get it up again.” He says and the alpha’s eyes spark at the challenge. He lets himself get manhandled onto his back with his legs propped up on Julian’s shoulders. He’s already starting to get hard again and whines. “Come on,” He urges, digging his heels into the blonde’s shoulder blades. “Before I die of old age.”

Julian rolls his eyes fondly and slowly pushes his cock in, only pausing when their hips are flush together. Danny’s eyes flutter at the stretch and then he looks up at Julian through half lidded eyes. The alpha’s eyes are all black and predator, sandy hair hanging down in his face and god, Danny loves him.

“I love you too,” Julian whispers and Danny realizes his he’s said that out loud and his already fast heart rate skips a beat like it always does when he hears those words.

Danny reaches up and pulls Julian’s head down to kiss him. He can feel his legs stretch and protest a little, but he doesn’t care, continues to kiss Julian until their lungs burn.

He pulls away with a sharp breath and Julian circles his hips slowly, pulls out slowly and pushes back in just as slowly. It’s making love is what it is; slow, deliberate movements that punch the air out of his lungs. It’s making love and feeling connected in a way that Danny was sure only existed in badly written romance novels. It’s making love and it’s  _ breathtaking _ .

“You’re beautiful,” Julian whispers. “You’re beautiful and perfect and I love you.”

There’s a prickling at the back of Danny’s eyes and he doesn’t know if it’s from the praises or the pleasure that’s zinging up his spine on every thrust. He tries to blink them away, but another well placed push of Julian’s hips have his eyes closing and the tears slipping over.

Julian is still whispering soft praises and declarations of love and Danny can’t take it so he shuts the blonde up by kissing him again, crushes their lips together and then trailing them down his jawline to his neck, sucking a mark high enough where it can’t be hidden.  _ Mine _ , Danny thinks, eyes locked on the mark.

He’s dizzy with pleasure and love, whining and digging his fingers in the other’s hair. His cock is hard and dripping precome onto his stomach, something Julian seems to notice because there’s a hand gripping him and, like everything else, slowly jacking him in time with their hips.

He gasps, head tipped back, legs quivering, and he bites his already sore lower lip, the stinging pain grounding him just a little. Julian’s other hand comes up to coax Danny’s lip out of his mouth and he presses soft kisses on them.

“C’mon, ‘Dola, come for me.” He says against the omega’s lips.

And Danny does, always seems to when Julian tells him to, shouting and clamping down onto Julian’s cock making the alpha groan and Danny feels the warmth of Julian’s come. 

They’re both panting as Julian let’s Danny’s legs fall from his shoulder. He feels fucked out and relaxed even though it wasn’t hair pulling, biting fucking, and he wonders if making love will always make him feel this way. He hopes so.

“Fuck,” Is the first thing he says - croaks out. “I’m disgusting and fucked out.”

Julian laughs softly and uses the already half ruined sheet to wipe them off as best as he can. “You wanna go sleep in the guest bedroom?”

“Yes please,” Danny slurs, eyes fluttering shut. “Carry me.”

Julian hums an agreement and Danny feels the bed shift and then he’s being hauled up into Julian’s arms. He wraps his legs around the alpha’s waist and clings to him like an octopus as they make their way to the other bedroom.

He’s set down gently on the bed and pushed under the covers. When Julian joins him, he wraps back around him.

“Love you.” He says against Julian’s chest.

He feels a kiss planted in his hair and hears, “Love you too” before drifting off.

\-----

The Ravens are in Foxborough. It’s not the first time and it’s definitely not the last time, but Danny knows their history with the Ravens, watched the Patriots lose to them in the divisional round before and has lost a few times to them with the Rams. 

The coaches seem to know that this game is just a little more serious because they have trick plays they came up with after the Kansas City blowout being practiced and Josh even tells him and Julian to work on the double pass because this is the game they’ll need it in. So when they’re not on the practice field, they’re throwing passes to each other in Julian’s backyard, and when the day of the game comes, Danny understandably nervous.

“Yeah, yeah, totally.” He agrees. “Just another game.” He gives Julian a nervous smile and tap their helmets together.

The game doesn’t feel like  _ just another game _ , the intensity and emotion is amped up, but by the second quarter, they’re down 14 and can’t manage to get the ball down the field. There’s insults being slewn from both teams and Julian seems to get more upset than Danny when he gets insulted.

Danny doesn’t pay it any more mind than he normally does, though he does find it a little endearing at how Julian silently glares at all the alphas.

It feels like the Denver game all over again and as Danny huddles under one of the electric blankets with Julian, he can’t help but mention that and point out that they ended up winning that game.

“But Flacco can play in cold weather better than Manning can,” Julian points out. “We can’t move the ball.”

Danny bites the inside of his cheek and doesn’t say anything, just shifts a bit closer to Julian, ducking his head a little to subtly scent the alpha, hoping to calm him down a little. A hand grips his own and squeezes gently and he cracks a smile.

“Are you good?” The alpha asks.

He nods. “Yeah, kinda cold, kinda frustrated, but I’m good.” His smile widens. “Enjoying watching you glare at any alpha that says something bad about me,”

Julian scoffs. “I’m not glaring at them,” When Danny gives him an unimpressed look he amends, “Alright, I am, but at least I’m not saying anything.”

He laughs softly. “When we start winning, you can say something to them.” He decides.

Winning doesn’t come easy. Danny didn’t think it would, but he also didn’t think they’d be down fourteen  _ twice _ . They manage to tie the game for the second time with the double pass that feels just a little better than it looks. The crowd erupts and Danny gets enveloped by half the team in the end zone. When he gets back to the sideline, Julian is there, almost tackling him in a hug.

“Just like the backyard!” The alpha says, smiling.

He laughs, agreeing and leans heavily against Julian on the bench after they both get slapped on the back. “Good pass.” He mentions.

“The old Golden Flashes,” Julian jokes,

He rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Usually ‘good catch’ comes after that compliment,”

“But then I’d be telling you something you already knew,” The blonde points out.

“Oh, and you didn’t already know that that was a good throw?” Danny asks, raising an eyebrow.

Julian smiles. “Fine! It was a good catch. Happy?”

He laughs and presses a kiss to Julian’s cheek. “Yes, very.”

They don’t get the lead until the fourth quarter and then him and Julian are watching from the bench as the Ravens make their way down the field.

“They got it.” Julian says, nodding a little self deprecatingly.

Danny doesn’t say anything in response, just bites the inside of his cheek and watches as the Ravens convert a fourth down. He wants to assure Julian that it’ll be fine, that their defense will hold Baltimore to a field goal and then they’ll just need to run out the clock.

He holds his breath and watches as Joe takes a shot towards the end zone. His breath releases in a shout when the pass gets intercepted and then Julian is there, laughing and capturing his lips in a kiss.

He makes a noise of surprise against Julian’s lips and when the alpha pulls back, he’s a little dizzy with lust and lack of air.

“If that’s what I get after we win the divisional round, I can’t wait to see what I’ll get after the Super Bowl.” Danny says, blinking a little and trying to get bearings back. It’s loud, the rest of the team and crowd like thunder around them.

Julian laughs again and presses another kiss to his lips. “You’re amazing, I love you.”

Danny’s smile turns soft. “I love you too.”

 

There’s questions. There’s always questions, but this time there’s questions about the double pass and the other trick play. For once there aren’t any questions about his class or his relationship with Julian, it’s just  _ football _ . 

He thinks that this is why he does what he does, lives through the annoying bullshit of people asking about his class. He does it for these moments, the moments when it’s purely about the sport and what he does and he knows that no other life or career could live up to this.

They ask him about the preparation with the double pass and Julian comes up next to him to hear his answer and he links their fingers together. The reporters to bat an eyelid, though, there’s a good possibility that no one can see their interlaced fingers, but it’s a good feeling nonetheless.

He answers about it being a good team win and that winning in front of their home crowd is always a great experience. He says that he’s excited to play whoever is coming in next and that it’ll be another great game when they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was edited by me, so don't hesitate to yell at me for mistakes, or maybe pop a comment because I always love those.


	12. AFC

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The AFC Championship plus Media Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did ya guys miss me? I missed you guys. There was some stuff going on in my personal life that had me putting writing kind of on the back burner. Stuff about sexuality and myself, but it's whatever, I'm back and there's only one more chapter left plus an epilogue!

They welcome in the Colts next on a rainy night and it’s the second most lopsided game of their season, only this time they’re the ones on top, beating the Colts 45 - 7. Danny doesn’t fully comprehend that this means they’re going to the Super Bowl, but he’s on the sidelines making out with Julian again when the coach sends out Jimmy to finish the game. 

“We’re going to the Super Bowl,” He murmurs to Julian, still amazed.

Julian laughs. “I’ve been there before, it’s only good if you win.”

“Then we’ll go win.” He says like it’s the answer is obvious, and he figures it probably is, who goes to the Super Bowl to lose?

“Alright, deal.” The alpha chuckles and pecks his lips again. It’s pouring and if Danny was thinking about anything other than going to the Super Bowl for the first time, he’d probably think this was romantic, the whole kissing in the rain thing.

He watches as Tom and Bill accept the AFC Championship trophy on the small stage that’s been wheeled out onto the field. The crowd is still roaring and  _ they’re going to the Super Bowl _ .

 

  
“You’re only the second omega to go to the Super Bowl,” One reporter states. He waits for the question but it never comes.

“Um, yeah, I’m excited for it. Not because I’m the second omega, but because it’ll be my first time and, hopefully, my first win.” 

A few of the reporters chuckle before one asks. “Did you ever think you’d start in a Super Bowl?”

“It’s something you always wish for as a player, I still can’t believe it to be honest.” He admits. He’s watching Julian give his own interview a couple lockers away and he thanks the reporters around him and goes to intrude on the alpha’s interview instead.

“It was a great team win, we all had some great chemistry out there and w - oh, hey, babe,” Julian interrupts his sentence to greet Danny. He answers a few more questions before dismissing his own gaggle of reporters and turning to look at Danny. “Get bored of your own interview?” He jokes.

Danny shrugs a shoulder, smiling. “You interrupted mine last week,” He points out, pressing a quick kiss to the alpha’s cheek.

“Ah, so it was just for revenge?” Julian teases. “I’m gonna remember this,” He warns when Danny just laughs.

“I’m sure you will.” He sighs. “We’re going to the Super Bowl,” He says for about the hundredth time.

Julian chuckles and laces their fingers together. “I love you.” He says fondly.

Danny bites back a smile. “Love you too. Are we going out to celebrate?”

“If you want to, I think people are going over to Tommy’s,”

“We should go for a little while, get some free champagne.” He offers.

“You and your champagne, I think it’s a fetish.” Julian says, pulling the other out of the building.

Danny scoffs, but a small flush still comes to his cheeks. “It’s not a fetish,” He denies.

“Whatever you say.”

 

Tom’s house is packed, teammates and friends filling the large house. It was the most dressed down party Danny can remember ever seeing at Tom’s house, people dressed in casual clothes versus the fancy stuff from previous parties. 

And there is champagne served in flutes. Danny may have had three or more glasses of the stuff and was draped over Julian talking to a few other teammates.

“How much has he had to drink?” Stephen asks, gesturing towards Danny.

“Less than you’re thinking,” Julian answers, wrapping an arm around Danny’s waist to keep him steady. “He’s fine.”

He is fine, he’s more than fine, he’s feeling warm inside and out from the champagne and the heat coming from the alpha isn’t helping.

“I didn’t know he was such a lightweight.” Stephen says, laughing.

“He’s usually not,” Julian says. “I think the adrenaline is still there,”

The kicker nods in understanding. It should probably annoy Danny that they’re talking about him like he’s not there, but he’s feeling warm on the inside from the champagne and the scent of the ocean surrounding him and he really wants to just fall into a bed with Julian and drown in the adrenaline and the endorphins still flooding his system.

He buries his face in Julian’s neck and murmurs, “C’n we go? ‘M tired.”

Julian coos at him and shifts his arm, letting the omega lean more weight against him. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Danny waves bye towards Stephen, eyelids already starting to droop, and then Tom is in front of them. “You guys leaving?”

“Yeah, ‘Dola’s pretty whipped,” Julian answers.

Danny grunts his own answer, agreeing with the alpha. “Good party,” He says, half slurring his words.

“Thanks.”  He glances around the room. “I think Gisele wanted to say bye,” Tom mentions, calling over the other alpha.

She walks over and she’s as gorgeous as always, hair pulled back in a low ponytail. She smiles when she sees them and gives Tom a quick kiss on the cheek. “You guys leaving already?” She asks.  

Julian nods, gesturing to Danny. “I was just saying to Tom, ‘Dola’s about to drop,”

She giggles and smooths some hair back from the omega’s forehead. It makes Danny preen under the attention and he can feel Julian stiffen slightly, despite knowing that the other alpha isn’t a threat.

Gisele seems to pick up on that too, because she takes a small step back, nodding slightly at Julian, still smiling. “I hope you guys have a good night.”

They say their goodbyes to both alphas and Julian hails down a cab, piling Danny in the backseat before climbing in after him.

Danny leans his head against Julian’s shoulder, glancing up at him through his eyelashes. “You alright?” He asks.

Julian looks down at him and smiles. “Yeah, I’m just thinking,”

“About…?” He leads, letting his eyes fall shut.

The alpha shrugs. “Media Day.”

He hums, throwing an arm across Julian’s waist. “It’ll be fine,”

Julian doesn’t seem fully convinced. “It can get hectic. One year a woman showed up in a wedding dress and proposed to Tommy,”

Danny stifles a laugh. “I’m sure no one will show up in a wedding dress for us. Maybe for Gronk though.”

“I can see that.” He chuckles and runs his fingers through Danny's hair. “You can fall asleep, you know. I'll wake you up when we stop.”

He hums again and tucks himself further around Julian.

\-----

Danny wakes up in a bed, only a little hungover, with an arm slung over his waist. He’s hot, but he’s too comfortable to move, so he just sighs softly and cuddles closer to Julian. 

He doesn’t really want to get up, he’s never done media day for a Super Bowl, but the media has seldom been his friend this season and he can only imagine what kind of questions he’s going to get today.

He can feel Julian shift next to him and wake up and he blinks sleepily up at the alpha.

“Hey,” He greets, smiling softly.

“Mornin’,” Julian says, voice gravelly from sleep. “W’time is it?”

“Dunno, ten?”

“Mm,” He hums, still half asleep.

Danny chuckles softly. “I’m happy there’s no practice, you’re dead to the world.”

“Had to carry your sleeping self to the house last night,” Julian jokes, then groans. “Today’s Media Day.”

“Yep.” He agrees, popping the ‘p’. “It’ll be fine, Tom will get a chick in a wedding dress and I’m pretty sure our panel is together,”

“Good.” Julian mumbles, planting a kiss into Danny’s hair.

The omega scoffs. “You worried that a wedding dress clad lady is gonna propose to me and I’ll be swept off my feet?”

Julian laughs. “Obviously.”

“Better step up your game,”

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m so scared of a Wedding Dress Lady.” Julian deadpans and then rolls them over so he’s laying on top of the other.

“Ugh, no get up,” Danny complains half heartedly, wriggling his arms from where they’re trapped to wind them around Julian’s neck. “We gotta get ready,”

Julian groans. “Don’t wanna,”

“C’mon, babe. We gotta be there at noon,”

He huffs, but pushes himself up off of Danny, standing and stretching until his joints pop. Danny watches him from the bed and smiles softly, utterly in love with the alpha in front of him. Utterly in love with how the sweatpants Julian wears to bed rest low on his hips, in love with how messed up Julian’s hair is from sleeping.

Julian shuffles towards the en suite and says, “Come shower with me.” over his shoulder.

Danny rolls out of the bed and follows after Julian, smiling.

\-----

Danny was right, their panel is together, and he doesn’t realize how relieved he is by that until he’s sitting at the table, lights and cameras in his face with over a dozen reporters waiting to ask questions. 

“What are your thoughts about being the second omega to play in the Super Bowl?”

He’s been asked this question worded differently a few times now, and yes, he’s a little sick of it, but he forces a smile and answers, “I’m excited to play in the Super Bowl for the first time and I’d be excited even if I wasn’t an omega,” He’s tried to think of different ways to word the answer.

The reporters seem satiated by that answer and the next question addresses both of them. “As your relationship off the field has gotten stronger, does this affect your chemistry on the field?”

Julian answers first. “Of course, I think any time teammates hang out away from the field it helps the chemistry. It’s different for us, obviously, but we definitely bring out the best in each other,”

“Yeah,” Danny agrees. “Everyone has great chemistry on the field and it’s why we’ve made it to the Super Bowl. We all trust each other to make the plays that need to be made.”

“Concerning the location of…”

The rest of the questions seem to fade into each other and then their first panel is over and there’s a line of fans waiting for them. They take pictures with a few fans and then Julian’s pulling him away to the back rooms.

It’s quiet, finally, and Danny lets out a sigh of relief. “We have to do two more of those,” He laments.

Julian chuckles and pulls him into his arms. “It’ll be fine, the time will just fly by.”

He groans, wrapping his arms around the alpha and pressing his face into his chest. “That’s such a fucking lie.” 

“It is,” Julian relents, chuckling. “Hey,” He says quietly. “How’s your heat schedule?”

“‘S fine. Planned for a couple days after the game,”

Julian hums in acknowledgement. “No chance of a kickstarted one?”

He considers. “Don’t think so. Should be fine. When do we have to go back to give another panel?”

“Not for about forty five minutes.” Julian presses a kiss to the top of his head. “Tom said he needed to talk to me about something, something about a play Josh drew up,” He explains as he pulls away. “It shouldn’t be too long, I’ll come find you after.”

He nods. “I’ll go meet some more fans, say that you’re off on adventures leaving me to fend for myself.”

Julian rolls his eyes. “Like you need anyone to fend for you.”  He leans forward to kiss Danny quickly, a peck more than anything else, but the omega grabs him by his Super Bowl XLIX hoodie and pulls him closer for a proper kiss.

He takes satisfaction in the small groan it pulls from the alpha. He smiles into the kiss when Julian wraps his own arms around his waist, pulling them flush together.

“I gotta go,” Julian insists. “We can’t go find a supply closet to make out in.” He jokes.

Danny scoffs. “Like you’d try to find a supply closet to make out in.” He kisses Julian again, making a protesting noise when the alpha pulls back again. “Fine, fine, go, leave me to be lonely all by myself.”

Julian rolls his eyes fondly. “Go meet some more fans, I’ll be back in, like, twenty minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah, go on then.” Danny chuckles and waves him off.

“I won’t be long, promise.” The alpha says, kissing Danny once more before going off to find Tom.

His lips turn in a small smile and then he turns, takes a couple steps, and is stopped by a fan. She’s a beta, wearing his jersey from St. Louis, and is smiling at him. He blinks a few times, getting over the surprise and smiles at the young woman.

“How’d you get back here?” He asks.

“I got lost trying to find my friends. But I’m happy I got lost,”

He nods, chuckling. “What’s your name?”

“Violet.” She responds shyly.

“I love that name,” He compliments, genuine.

She blushes and twirls a lock of her strawberry blonde hair around a finger. “I miss you playing for St. Louis, but it’s better that you’re happy here,”

He’s slightly surprised that the fan feels brave enough to say something like that, but he smiles at her and signs her jersey. He’s about to move around her, maybe text Julian or find Rob to bug, but then Violet asks, “So where’s Julian? I’d love to get his autograph next to yours,”

“I think he’s talking to someone, but he’ll be back soon and then I’m sure he’ll sign your jersey.”

“Really?” She asks.

“Of course,” He says, smiling.

She smiles back at him. “So does that mean you’ll stay with me until then?”

“Um, I guess so,” He subtly looks around for any other fan that might’ve wandered their way back. When he doesn’t see anyone, he decides that he can stay and hangout with Violet until Julian comes back. “So is this your first time at Media Day too?”

“Yeah. I came with some friends, but they’re all Seahawks fans,” She rolls his eyes. “Told them they were dumb.”

It startles a laugh out of Danny. “You’re a smart girl, Violet.”

She giggles. “Thanks. I’m real happy I was able to meet you.” She pauses, then, “So are you Julian like...together?”

“Um, yes,” He says, slightly awkwardly.

“Do you ever  miss being with a chick?”

“What?” He splutters out.

“You know,” She runs a hand through her hair. “You’re with Julian, it’s not like you’re having sex with chicks on the side,”

He laughs, uncomfortable. “I’m, um, no, I don’t miss it.” He wonders if he would find Violet attractive if he was single and not gay. He thinks he would, she’s nice enough looking; strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, slightly shorter than him with long legs.

She takes a step closer, laughing and putting a hand on his arm. “C’mon, you can tell me,” She leans forward to whisper, “I won’t tell anyone.”

He swallows thickly, unsure how to be polite and step away without hurting the beta’s feelings. “Uh,”

She breathes a soft laugh and trails her hand down his arm, red nails harsh against the silver of his hoodie. “Like, I said: I won’t tell anyone.”

He finally takes a step back, letting her arm fall from his own, and backs into someone else. He knows it’s Julian from the waves that surround him instantly, and the next second there’s arms wrapped around him too.

“Who’s this?” Julian asks, polite with a hint of possessiveness underneath.

“I’m Violet,” The fan introduces herself, chin up defiantly. “I got lost looking for my friends and I managed to run into my favorite player.” She explains. “We were actually waiting for you to come back because I really wanted your autograph.” She holds out her marker.

“Of course,” Julian says, slipping around Danny, trailing his hand across his lower back. He takes the offered marker and signs his own name next to Danny’s. “Do you need help finding your friends?”

She keeps her eyes mainly on Danny as she answers. “That’s alright, I think I can find them.” She thanks them again for the autographs, waves at them both and then disappears around a corner.

“I didn’t like her.” Julian says, wrapping his arms around the omega again.

Danny smirks a little. “Are you jealous?” 

“What? No.” The alpha scoffs.

“You totally are. Scared that she was gonna come whisk me off my feet?” He laughs. “Don’t think I didn’t hear the authority in your voice.”

“And she didn’t even back down,” He presses a hard kiss against Danny’s lips. “I got Gisele to back off, who the hell does this fan think she is?” 

Danny hums. “Maybe she thought she had a chance against you. I dunno, she was kinda cute.”

Julian growls softly under his breath and kisses him again. This one is only a little softer, but the alpha takes his time now, as if he couldn’t go another second without trying to taste Danny’s tonsils with his tongue.

He whimpers when he feels a hand shift down to grab at his ass. “Supply closet?” He breathes against his lips.

“There’s an empty room, c’mon.” Julian pulls him into what looks like an empty classroom or something and then pushes him up against the shut door. “We got about eight minutes before we gotta go back on that stage, so be a good boy and come quickly.”

He nods, hands bunched up in Julian’s hoodie as a hand makes it’s way into his pants to grasp his half hard cock.

“You gonna make me come in my pants?” He asks, breathless.

“Yes, and then you’ll have to sit with it for the panels and have a constant reminder that you’re  _ mine _ ,” Julian growls out. His eyes turn soft for a moment. “And I’m yours.”

Danny shivers, nodding, and gasps when Julian starts to stroke his cock in earnest, wasting no time, trying to get him off as fast as possible. The blonde keeps pressing kisses up and down Danny’s neck, pausing every once in awhile to bite down. 

“You’re so gorgeous,” Julian says. “So, so gorgeous. And you’re even prettier when you’re on my cock, desperate to come.”

Danny moans loud and then there’s a hand over his mouth. “Shh, can’t be too loud. Who knows if that  _ fan _ is outside looking for you again.” He smiles, sharp and tightens his hand a fraction. “Would you like that? Having someone see you like this?”

He shakes his head, but his cock twitches at the thought of everyone knowing -  _ seeing _ how much they belong to each other. Julian chuckles and presses his own hard cock against Danny’s hip.

He’s about to come, almost embarrassingly quickly, and his whimpers and whines get louder, still stifled behind Julian’s hand.

“You gonna come?” The alpha asks. “I know how much you want to. Come on, love.”

His eyes flutter and shut when he comes, knuckles white where his hands are gripping onto the other’s hoodie. Julian removes his hand and kisses him again, softer, working him down from his orgasm.

“Was that good?” Julian asks, taking his somehow clean hand out of the omega’s pants.

He nods. “Obviously. Are you -”

Julian shakes his head. “This was about you, I’m fine.”

“But -”

“We have to go anyway.” He interrupts and smooths Danny’s hair down before his own. “I’ll let you make it up to me later.” He says, winking.

Danny smiles and nods. “So how do I look? Like I didn’t just get off?”

“You look amazing. You always do.” Julian answers, pressing another soft kiss to his lips. “Now let’s go, we got the same four questions to answer for the next hour.”

\-----

Danny runs into Tom at the hotel after Media Day has finished.

“Danny, hey, I was looking for you,” Tom greets. “I wanted to ask you about your heat schedule.”

He suppresses the urge to groan. “It’s fine, it’s scheduled for after the game. And there’s no signs of it happening any earlier.” He promises.

“Oh, good!” Tom scratches the back of his neck. “I know it can be an awkward question…”

He waves the alpha off. “Nah, it’s fine. Jules asked me earlier too. If anything seems off, I’ll let you know.” He assures.

Tom smiles. “Great, great. I’ll let you get back to Jules then. Practice tomorrow at noon!”

“See you then.” Danny says.

He makes his way back to his hotel room shared with Julian. The alpha is already bundled under the covers and looks over when the door shuts.

“Where were you?” Julian asks.

“Ran into Tommy, wanted to know about my schedule,” Danny shrugs and climbs into the bed next to the alpha. “I’m exhausted. Media Day is the worst,” He complains, curling up against the other.

Julian chuckles and wraps his arms around him. “You did great.”

He revels slightly at the praise. “Hm, thanks.” He kisses Julian once. “Sleep now. Love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

\-----

Danny thought that Media Day was hectic, but it was nothing like the actual Super Bowl. People were lined up waiting to get in at least three hours before the pregame ceremonies happened. He’s surprisingly not nervous, instead filled with an adrenaline that has him itching to get on the field. 

They’re all gathered up in the tunnel, waiting for their team name to be called. Sure, it’s just technically another game, but this time it’s on the biggest stage.

He’s standing next to Julian who looks over at him, bumping their helmets together. “You’re gonna do great, let’s go win this thing.”

He smiles and nods, agreeing with the alpha, bumping his helmet back against Julian’s. He knows they can win, this game is something they’ve been preparing for since training camp. Now they just have to go out there and prove it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Feel free to yell at me about mistakes and other stuff.


	13. Super Bowl XLIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens during and after Super Bowl XLIX.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, remember me? Yeah, I used to update regularly but fell off that wagon when shit like BUGS infesting my bedroom happened.  
> Sigh, anyway, this is the end. I'll probably put an epilogue up as a oneshot or something sometime in the future. Thanks for sticking with this story<3

Danny doesn’t know what to expect on the day of the Super Bowl. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to be feeling. Nervous and excited yeah, but there’s also an underlying of anxiety that he can feel coming off of the rest of the team in waves. He knows why it’s there, he’s not a stranger to the 2007 Super Bowl that took place here where the Patriots lost a chance at perfection.

Tom is good at pretending that the ghosts aren’t here haunting him. Danny could almost trick himself into thinking that Tom hasn’t ever played in this building before, that 2007 never even happened, but the determination that laces his every word gives him away. He wants to win this game, maybe more than anyone.

Julian is a little more tense before this game than usual too. It’s something that Danny expected, but isn’t sure how to respond to it. Julian tells him he’s fine, but the alpha’s scent is just a little off from the nerves. This isn’t his first Super Bowl either

For once, there’s not any reporters in the locker room before the game, something that Danny does not take for granted. He’s sitting next to Julian on the bench in front of their lockers.

“Are you okay?” He asks hesitantly.

Julian looks over at him, smiles and nods. “Yeah, just nervous,” He slides closer to the omega. “Are  _ you  _ alright?”

“As alright as someone about to play in his first Super Bowl,” Danny jokes. “I can hear the crowd from here though,” He says, more seriously. “This is the biggest game, what if we choke?”

Julian slings an arm around his shoulders. “We’re gonna do great, and you’re gonna catch a touchdown.” 

He chuckles and tucks his face against the alpha’s neck, scenting him to hopefully calm both of them down. It seems to work because Julian rests his head atop of Danny’s, planting a kiss in his hair.

“Hey, lovebirds,” It’s Tom. “Let’s not get scent drunk before the Super Bowl.” He chides, though he’s smiling.

“Yeah, yeah.” Julian dismisses, but he separates from Danny.

Tom rolls his eyes. “Let’s go, we’re supposed to be in the tunnel in five.”

It’s the first time they realize that they’re the only ones left in the locker room. They pick up their helmets and follow the oldest alpha out of the locker room.

The first thing that Danny thinks when they’re in the tunnel is that it’s loud, louder than any stadium he’s ever been in. It makes him that much more nervous and when Julian taps his helmet against his, it settles his nerves only a little.

If he admits it to himself, and he’s not, he’s a little scared that his class will affect the referee’s decision to call a penalty or not, scared that the alphas on the other team will affect him in some way that’ll make him hesitant. He knows both are ridiculous fears, but fears they are nonetheless. But that’s only if he’s admitting it to himself. Which he’s not.

He wishes they didn’t already have their helmets on because he wants to kiss Julian, wants to nuzzle at his neck so the only scent he smells is a sandy beach, not the sixty other scents around him.

The people in front of them get ready to run out onto the field. He takes a breath and steels himself for the biggest game in his life.  
\-----  
When the second half starts, none of Danny’s nerves have disappeared. They’re tied at 14 and he’s helpless but to watch as Seattle makes their way back down the field to score a touchdown and then a field goal, putting them back 24-14. 

There’s a lot of talk from both teams and Danny knows that Seattle has players famous for their trash talk. He doesn’t let it get to him, used to the remarks, but Julian looks ready to punch something when they’re on the sideline as the third quarter comes to a close.

He knows that Julian is upset about the score, hates that they have to play from behind, hates that Seattle’s defense thinks it’s  _ okay _ to call Danny names and tell him he’s not worthy of being on the field.

Tom is walking up and down the sideline, pep talking the team and Danny sits next to Julian on the bench and tries to convey calmness towards the alpha without touching him. He doesn’t know if it works or not, Julian’s demeanor doesn’t change much, except for the small smile he gives the omega.

They’re facing a third down and long and Danny watches as Julian makes the conversion, take a shot to the helmet, and get back up, running ten more yards before being pulled to the turf. He doesn’t care that the officials mark it back where he originally got tackled, instead helping his alpha up.

“Are you alright?” He asks.

Julian waves him off. “Yeah, ‘m fine.”

He wants to push further, to have Julian taken to the sideline to check for a concussion, but the alpha assures him that he’s fine and they move back to the huddle, Danny resting a hand on Julian’s lower back the whole time.

He catches a touchdown that cuts the deficit to three and Julian plants a sweaty kiss to his cheek when they get back to the sideline, smiling wide at him with proud eyes. The rest of the team clap him on the shoulder and suddenly winning the game seems possible.

Julian catches the winning touchdown and Danny wants to jump him in the endzone. He doesn’t, but he does nearly knock him over when he hugs him, tapping their helmets together and smiling wide.

He kisses the alpha on the sideline, uncaring if there’s a camera pointed on them.

“Way to go, love you.” He says, smiling.

“Love you too.”

They watch, hands interlocked with each other, as Jermaine Kearse catches a juggling catch and Danny feels his heart climb into his throat. Julian’s hand tightens hard around his own and he winces minutely at the pressure. He knows what’s probably going through the alpha’s head, flashbacks to the last Super Bowl he was in and the sideline catch. 

The clock continues to tick down, adding to the entire sideline’s anxiety, and he wonders if they’re going to need to get ready for another drive. Hope that they won’t need to, hopes the defense gets a fumble or  _ something _ .

He glances over at Julian’s face; his face is stoic, but Danny can see the slight twitch of his eyebrows, the way he slightly takes his lower lip into his mouth. Danny presses just a little closer to him, hoping to calm him down just a little.

He’s holding his breath, and he knows everyone else is too, when he watches Seattle  _ throw _ the ball, watches as his team  _ intercepts _ the ball.

There’s a second where everything seems to be frozen and then he hears everyone  _ erupt _ into cheers and noise and Julian is dragging him into a kiss, both smiling and laughing into it.

They’ve  _ won _ the Super Bowl. They’re both laughing when he pulls away from the kiss so he can breathe, and pushes closer against Julian.

“We  _ won! _ ”

Julian laughs. “I told you we would!”

They both turn to the field where people have run out to congratulate the beta, Malcolm if Danny remembers correctly, on getting the game winning interception. Tom is jumping up and down, looking like a child and hugging Josh.

“Fuck, I love you so much.” Julian tells him, pulling him in for another kiss. 

Tom gets Seattle to jump offsides and then he’s taking a knee and the game is over. Confetti falls from the sky to settle on the field where players are lying and dancing. He thinks he sees Chandler making snow angels in the streamers.

The trophy presentation happens and Danny and Julian watch from the podium as Kurt Warner walks the trophy. It seems to happen fast, Tom, Rob, and Julian all making speeches. He declines to say anything, doesn’t feel like he needs to, feels like he’s proved himself enough.

They’re due for a post game interview, which were supposed to be separate, but they both refuse to leave each other’s side, only barely letting go of each other’s hands when they need to.

“How does it feel to win the Super Bowl?” Is the first question.

He smiles, doesn’t know if he’s  _ stopped  _ smiling, when he answers, “Unreal. It was a great team win, everyone was involved. I see these guys every day, it feels awesome to share this win with them.”

The reporters all start talking, until one reporter wins out and asks, “This question is for both of you, um, how was it like to play and win in the biggest game with each other?”

“Oh, well, you know,” Danny starts. “It was...it was amazing to get to share that moment with Jules,” He knocks shoulders with the alpha. “We both got a little angry at the other team when we saw hard hits, but it’s football.”

“Yeah,” Julian agrees. “It always sucks to see someone you love get hit hard, but you’re proud when they make the catch and get back up.” His lips quirk up in a small smile that he aims towards Danny, one that the omega returns. “I don’t know anyone else I would want to share the win with.” He says it so casually, that he loves Danny, that he makes it seem like it’s as obvious as the sky is blue.

“Love, huh?” One of the reporters chuckles. “Are there wedding bells in the future?” 

Everyone chuckles and Julian smirks, shrugging one shoulder. “Can’t give away all my secrets, can I?” 

It’s such a media answer and the reporters eat it up with a laugh, then moving on to other questions, but Danny still can’t help the stutter his heart makes at the cryptic answer.

The adrenaline should’ve mostly worn off by now, but he still feels the fluttering in his stomach that branches out to his fingers and toes. His gut is whispering to him that it’s heat, but he’s sure that’s not right because his heat isn’t supposed to be due for at least another few days. He figures the adrenaline will wear off by the end of the night.

Their interview wraps up and then Rob’s next to them telling them that they  _ have to go out with the rest of them. _ They agree, don’t really have a choice not to go with Rob practically dragging them with him to whatever club the team has chosen as the after party destination.  
\-----  
The club is loud, almost as loud as the stadium was, and he had a drink in his hand that’s disappeared to god knows where. The adrenaline is still in him, hasn’t even begun to wane, a thick fog of arousal already starting to cloud his common judgement. He drags Julian to a quieter corner so he can tell him that yeah, his heat is definitely there and they need to go.

“What’s wrong?” The alpha asks, hands still placed on Danny’s hips.

“My heat,” He answers. “Too much adrenaline, body’s confused, thinks it should be in heat.” He wonders if they’ll be a time in the near future that he’ll get to spend his heat at home and not in a hotel room.

Julian frowns slightly and leans his head in, scenting him, and Danny watches as his pupils get blown wide. “Yeah, you, uh, let’s go.” He half carries the omega out of the club quickly, neither wanting any of the other alphas to catch wind of his scent. They trust their teammates, they  _ don’t _ trust the other civilian patrons crowding the club.

Julian hails down a taxi and Danny climbs into his lap as soon as they’re inside, much to the driver’s dismay, and grinds his hips down.

“‘M so hot,” He murmurs, and he  _ is _ , his skin is already starting to tingle, clothes already sticking to his skin from sweat and slick. “Please,”

Julian hums, grabbing onto his hips to steady him, rubbing soothing circles into his hips. “I know, babe. We’re almost there, yeah?”

He whines. “Need you,”

“Yes, yes, I know, but we’re in a taxi. You can’t be that out of it yet.”

He’s not, not really, can feel that this heat is less intense than his last, but he’s getting there, so he whines lowly again and shifts his hips, trying to get Julian’s hands to move lower. “ _ C’mon _ ,”

“It’s alright, babe,” Julian coos, pressing gentle kisses to his jaw and neck. “We should’ve left sooner, huh.” 

He nods against the alpha’s neck and tries to shift his hips forward in Julian’s grip, only to have the hands on them tighten to the point of bruising. It makes him whine and pitch forward, pressing his face into the crook of Julian’s neck. “Didn’t want to make you leave.”

Julian coos at him again. “Sweetheart, I’ll always rather spend time with you than anything else,” He kisses at the omega’s neck, feeling the fluttering pulse under his lips. “Especially if you’re going into heat and smelling like desperation.”

Danny mewls quietly, dropping his head to Julian’s shoulder. He wants the alpha to fuck him  _ now _ in the taxi, doesn’t care if the driver is glaring at them through the rearview mirror.

“Can’t fuck you here, babe,” Julian whispers hotly against his temple. “No matter how much we both want to.”

He whimpers. “Fuck,  _ please _ . Need you.” He’s pressing desperate kisses along Julian’s neck, drowning in the scent of waves. 

The taxi driver interrupts them, sharply stopping in front of their hotel. He waves them out quickly, driving away quickly, uncaring that he hasn’t been paid.

The hotel has a spattering of paparazzi at the doors, but they don’t pay them any attention, just walking past them into the hotel. They ignore the few people in the lobby and Julian drags Danny to the elevator, pushing him up against the wall and crushing their lips together.

Warmth blooms in his stomach and he’s helpless to do anything but grip onto Julian’s shirt and let the alpha try to count his teeth with his tongue. He chases Julian’s lips when he pulls away, unknowing that the elevator doors have opened.

“Almost there, babe.” Julian whispers.

Danny nods and stumbles along with him, trying to rub up against the alpha the whole way to their shared hotel room. Julian pinches him in the side and he flinches, the pain focusing him enough to make it to the room without pushing the alpha to the ground.

Julian undresses him quickly, backing him to the bed where he falls, grunting softly when he lands. The heat is curling up around him and he groans appreciatively when Julian follows him to the bed.

“How’re you feeling?” Julian asks, settling between the his legs.

“ _ Hot _ ,” He whimpers. “Need you.”

Julian nods in agreement. “Don’t worry, babe,” He nudges Danny’s legs a little further apart, using his arms to hold himself up. “I got you.”

He says it with such love that Danny believes him, feels a spark of focus through his heat and he smiles up at Julian, whispers, “I know. I trust you.”

The alpha leans down to kiss him and he can almost taste the desperation coming off of both of them in waves. There’s a hand nudging his legs a little further apart and then there’s two fingers teasing at his rim, not quite pushing in and giving him what he needs.

“Come  _ on _ ,” Danny whines. “Don’t be mean,”

Julian chuckles. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.” He murmurs, finally pressing two fingers in.

He chokes on a moan, that itch just starting to get scratched. The fingers stretch and then crook upwards, making Danny cry out in surprised pleasure.

“Please, please, please,” He whimpers, hands scrabbling for purchase against the blonde’s shoulders, leaving crescent shaped marks.

Julian growls and pulls his fingers out, catching both the omega’s wrists in one hand. Danny mewls at the display of dominance, his heat addled brain urging him to tilt his head back, to show his neck and  _ submit _ .

So he lets his head fall back and watches as Julian’s dark eyes trail down to it. He places Danny’s hands above his head quickly, trusting that the omega will keep them there, and latches onto Danny’s neck, sucking a dark mark high enough where it won’t be easily hidden.

Danny arches his back and fists the pillow near his head. He wants Julian to just get on with it, wants the alpha to knot him already, but he seems perfectly content with dragging the foreplay out.

When Julian’s happy with the mark he’s left on his omega, he teases three fingers back into his hole. Danny tries to push his hips back, but he can’t seem to find the leverage, feet unable to find any purchase on the silk sheets.

“Jules, please,” He whimpers out, giving the alpha above him wide, pleading eyes. “Alpha…”

“God, if you didn’t smell so fucking good, I’d take my time to unravel you completely, rim you until you’re crying,”

The image that conjures up in his mind makes the pleasure in his stomach spark and he finds himself suddenly close to coming.

“Would you like that?” Julian asks as if the answer isn’t obvious.

In a moment of anger, he snaps, “I’d like it if you’d fuck me.”

He gets a sharp smack to his thigh. “Start behaving and maybe I will.”

He grits his teeth, insolence still in him. “Could you  _ please _ put your dick in me?”

Julian hums like he’s really debating it. “I think you could handle waiting a little longer,” He finally says, making Danny groan, long and miserable. “You’re gorgeous like this.”

Danny bets his ass he is, spread out with an attractive alpha between his legs, leaking slick like he’s a teenager who has just presented. He contemplates disobeying and moving his hands to grab onto Julian’s hair to pull him to where he wants him.

He doesn’t, doesn’t dare move his hands less Julian punish him by dragging this out even  _ longer _ . He droops his eyelids slightly, relaxes on the bed and bites his already swollen bottom lip, and glances at the blonde demurely.

“Please, I  _ need _ you,” He says, voice barely above a whisper. “Need you to fill me up and knot me.”

Julian’s jaw drops slightly at the picture he makes on the bed. He growls and suddenly Danny finds himself almost bent in half, feet near his head, and the alpha is pressing inside him in one, hard thrust.

It pushes the air out of his lungs, the position they’re in not helping. Julian is pushing his wrists further into the pillow and Danny’s helpless to do anything but just  _ take it _ .

“Is this what you wanted?” Julian growls out.

His whimpers grow louder and starts turning into loud shouts when the alpha’s cock starts rubbing up against his prostate relentlessly. His own cock is lying hard and untouched against his stomach, a small puddle of precome smeared there.

“Well?” Julian asks again. “C’mon, answer me.” He says, sentence little more than a demand.

“Y -  _ es _ ,” Danny whimpers. “ _ Oh _ ,  _ god _ .” He flexes his wrists against Julian’s hold, whining when it doesn’t give even a little bit. “Wanna...wanna touch you.” He moans out between breaths.

Julian smirks, all alpha predator, and says, “Yeah? Shoulda thought of that before you mouthed off to me, huh?”

He pulls harder on the hold and sobs on his next breath when he realizes that Julian isn’t letting up. “If you come for me without me touching your cock, I’ll let you touch me.” He says, strands of blonde hair hanging down in front of his face.

The promise of free hands tugs at the heat that’s settled in his stomach, but it’s not quite enough to push him over the edge. He whines, starting to regret being a brat earlier, and arches up against the alpha as much as he can, trying to apologize without words.

Julian’s pace doesn’t falter, just the same hard, even thrusts that have Danny’s eyes rolling back in his head. He feels like a taut string of nerves and heat, wanting nothing more to snap and let all the tension bleed out.

“I know you can do it,” Julian encourages, voice breaking through the thick fog clouding Danny’s mind. “You’ve done it before. Would my knot help?”

Danny tries to choke out an answer, a  _ yes, god please _ , but only manages a few punched out whimpers and moans. It’s apparently all the answer Julian needs because he feels the alpha’s knot starting to catch at his rim, making his thighs judder.

“ _ Oh fuck, please _ .” He manages to get out between desperate gasps of air.

Julian smirks down at him, finally,  _ finally _ pushing his knot in and locking them together. It’s enough to make him come, untouched until Julian sneaks a hand on his cock, stroking it to draw out his orgasm until his vision whites out at the edges.

They’re both breathing heavily and his feet fall off of the other’s shoulders to lay limp on the bed. The alpha carefully rolls them so Danny is on top of him, head resting on Julian’s chest.

“How you feeling?” Julian asks gently, one hand petting through the brunette’s hair.

Danny hums, eyes closed, heat abated for the next few hours. “Better.” His own hands are

“Good. It seems like your heat isn’t as bad as it was last time.”

“Uh huh.” He agrees easily, but he doesn’t fall asleep, stuck in a limbo like state between sleep and consciousness, cradled between ocean waves. He’s happy, content, winning the Super Bowl, having the media not even address his class once, and then getting thoroughly fucked by his alpha...there isn’t much, if anything, that could beat that.  
\-----  
They go to the ring ceremony together, Julian bringing his sister for some unknown reason to Danny, but he likes the beta well enough, can see them in each other in the way they laugh and make the same stupid jokes.

Julian disappears somewhere a few minutes before the ceremony is supposed to start. He sees the alpha walk around the tables to talk to Robert Kraft at the side of the stage. He’s going to go follow him, but Jenny intercepts him with a smile, asking if she knows where they’re supposed to be sitting.

“Um, I think over here.” He leads them over to one of the many round tables. Rob and Stephen are sitting at the table as well and they smile at them.

“Where’d Jules go?” Rob asks, sounding like he knows exactly where the other alpha is.

The beta shoots him a look that shuts him up and impresses Danny. Stephen snickers and Danny’s about to ask what’s going on, when Jenny tugs at his arm and points up at the stage where Julian is.

“What’s going on?” He whispers to Jenny as her brother manages to quiet down the room.

She shushes him. “Just watch.”

He obeys and stays quiet. Julian looks nervous and it makes Danny a little nervous too.

“So, um, congrats to everyone first and foremost.” Julian says. Everyone claps and seems to know what’s going on. Everyone but Danny.

Jenny has stood up discreetly and starts pulling him up as well, tugging him gently towards the side of the stage. He looks at her confused, but she just smiles widely at him, staying silent.

“So, um, Danny,” The alpha gestures the omega up onto the stage next to stand next to him. “It’s not quite a Super Bowl ring,” He starts nervously, pulling out a small box from his pocket.  “But I’m hoping you’ll want to wear this one too.”

Danny feels like he's about to faint, or wake up, as he watches Julian sink down to one knee. The small box is sitting in his hands, open, and there's a simple, silver ring resting there.

“I didn't, um, get your dad’s permission or anything,” Julian jokes. “But, will you marry me?”

As if the answer would be anything but  _ yes _ .

“Obviously.” Danny manages to choke out.

Julian smiles, gorgeous, and stands, slipping the ring around the omega’s finger. “Oh, thank, God.”

Danny laughs, wrapping his arms around Julian’s neck and kisses him. “How could I  _ not  _ marry you?”

Julian huffs a small laugh, both smiling wide with tears glittering in their eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Everyone else is clapping and cheering, Jenny is dabbing her eyes, and Danny's  _ engaged _ . Engaged to the love of his life, and yeah, this is much better than a Super Bowl ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks for all the comments and support for whatever this fic was and I really hope you guys enjoyed it at least a little bit.   
> I do have another fic in the works, one I didn't intend to become a full fledged fic, but amenbrola managed to convince me because who doesn't love a good criminal/hostage AU? I know I love 'em.  
> (Also this is unedited, so yell at me about mistakes)


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